UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000769810     3 


ie  Interpreters  of  Poreig] 

Among  the  Ancients 


A  Study  Based  on  Greek  and  Latin  Sources 


HENRY  STSTYDER  GERMAN,  A.  M. 


A    DISSERTATION 
PRESENTED  To  THF.  FACCLTT  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  PEKNSTtVAMA,  IN  PABTIAL  FULnt-LMENT  OF  TflE  REQUIREMENTS 

TOR  THE  DEGBKE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY. 


A  Study  Based  on  Greek  and  Latin  Sources 


BT 

HENRY  SNYDER  GEHMAN,  A.  M. 


A    DISSERTATION 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  THE  UNIVEBMTT 

OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  IN  PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY. 


LANCASTER,  PA. 
INTELLIGENCER  PRINTING  Co. 
1914 


PREFACE 


The  following  dissertation  on  Interpreters  was  suggested  by 
Professor  Rolfe's  article  "Did  Liscus  Speak  Latin?"  published 
in  the  Classical  Journal,  Vol.  VII,  pp.  126  sqq.  It  is  a  subject 
on  which  the  handbooks  and  lexicons  furnish  very  little  informa- 
tion. The  present  investigation  has  been  based  on  the  Greek 
and  Latin  authors  from  the  earliest  times  to  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus. 

The  collection  of  the  various  incidents  resulted  in  an  array 
of  examples  of  the  most  diverse  nature,  many  of  which  have 
absolutely  no  relation  to  one  another.  To  establish  order  out 
of  chaos  has  proved  to  be  a  very  difficult  task,  especially  since 
it  seems  impossible  to  find  a  scheme  of  classification  which  is  at 
the  same  time  both  logical  and  consistent.  Some  of  the  di- 
visions naturally  shade  into  one  another  and  some  of  the  ex- 
amples could  equally  well  be  put  under  various  headings.  In 
such  instances,  the  author  has  followed  what  appeared  to  him 
to  be  the  most  practical  arrangement.  Thus  Chapters  III  and 
IV  have  much  in  common  and  might  very  properly  be  blended. 
But  since  Chapter  III  refers  especially  to  polyglots,  the  acqui- 
sition of  foreign  languages,  and  the  profession  in  general,  it 
seemed  better  to  make  two  chapters  instead  of  one. 

The  classification  of  the  examples  has  been  based  primarily 
on  the  languages  interpreted,  and  under  the  various  linguistic 
headings  a  chronological  order  has  been  followed  so  far  as 
possible.  Fictitious  incidents  have  been  introduced  before 
historical  ones,  but  strict  chronology  could  not  always  be  fol- 
lowed ;  sometimes  it  has  been  sacrificed  for  the  sake  of  observing 
the  linguistic  attainments  of  a  certain  individual,  or  in  other 
instances  it  has  seemed  better  to  treat  together  several  incidents 
that  took  place  in  the  same  district.  In  Chapter  VI,  miscel- 

3 


S1 6348 

Claoslcal^anguages 


4  Preface 

laneous  barbarian  languages  are  taken  up  before  proceeding  to 
Thracian,  a  barbarian  language  of  Europe.  Again,  the  inci- 
dents narrated  in  Chapter  IX  might  logically  be  treated  under 
Chapters  VII  and  VIII;  but  it  seemed  more  useful  to  treat 
Roman  executive  and  judicial  administration  by  itself,  to  limit 
it  to  senatorial  and  provincial  affairs,  and  to  exclude  diplomatic 
business.  Although  the  general  classification  is  primarily 
linguistic,  a  deviation  appeared  more  practical  in  this  case. 
In  Chapter  VIII  it  happened  that  an  arrangement  according 
to  language  did  not  interfere  with  the  chronology. 

The  treatment  of  various  episodes  may  not  seem  consistent. 
Some  have  been  expanded  to  greater  length  than  others  on 
account  of  their  human  interest,  with  the  hope  that  the  dis- 
sertation may  thus  be  made  more  attractive  to  the  reader. 

Grateful  acknowledgement  for  helpful  suggestions,  kindly 
criticism,  and  careful  proof-reading  is  due  to  Professors  J.  C. 
Rolfe  and  W.  B.  McDaniel  and  Assistant  Professors  R.  G. 
Kent  and  G.  D.  Hadzsits  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

H.  S.  G. 


CONTENTS 


Bibliography 7 

I.     Difficulties  Occasioned  by  a  Difference  of  Lan- 
guage   9 

II.     The  Use  of  Signs  and  Gestures 13 

III.  The  Institution  of  Interpreters 16 

IV.  General  References  to  Interpreters 20 

V.     Interpreters  of  one  Barbarian  Language  into  An- 
other    23 

VI.     Interpreters  of  Greek  and  Barbarian  Languages. .  30 

1.  Greek  and  Egyptian 30 

2.  Greek  and  Semitic 30 

3.  Greek  and  Indian 33 

4.  Greek  and  Persian 35 

5.  Greek  and    Miscellaneous    Barbarian    Lan- 

guages    43 

6.  Greek  and  Thracian 44 

VII.     Interpreters  of  Latin  and  Greek 47 

VIII.     Interpreters  of  Latin  and  Barbarian  Languages. .  49 
IX.     Interpreters  in   Roman   Executive  and  Judicial 

Administration 54 

X.     Interpreters  of  a  Barbarian  Language  and  one  or 

the  other  of  the  Classical  Languages 59 

XI.     Failure  of  Writers  to  Consider  Differences  of  Lan- 
guage   6 1 

XII.     Conclusion 63 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


ANTHON,  C.  A  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  edited  by 
Wm.  Smith,  third  American  edition,  New  York,  1858,  s.  v.  interpres. 

BROCKELMANN,  C.  Grundriss  der  vergleichenden  Grammatik  der  semi- 
tischen  Sprachen,  Berlin,  1908.  Bd.  I,  Einleitung,  see  Aramaic, 

FORCELLINI,  A.     Totius  Latinitatis  Lexicon,  Prati,  1865,  s.  v.  interpres. 

LEWIS,  C.  T.,  and  C.  SHORT.  A  New  Latin  Dictionary,  New  York,  s.  v. 
interpres. 

LIDDELL,  H.  G.,  and  R.  SCOTT.  A  Greek-English  Lexicon,  eighth  edition, 
New  York,  s.  w.  !p[xiqveu<;,  £p(AT)ve6o>. 

LUBKER,  F.  Reallexikon  des  klassischen  Altertums  ftir  Gymnasien, 
siebente  verbesserte  Auflage  herausgegeben  von  M.  Erler,  Leipzig,  1891, 
s.  v.  interpres. 

MOMMSEN,  T.  The  History  of  Rome.  Translated  by  W.  D.  Dickson, 
New  York,  1900,  Vol.  V,  p.  10;  p.  30. 

MOMMSEN,  T.  Romisches  Staatsrecht,  Leipzig,  1876-1888,  I,  p.  352; 
III,  p.  960. 

PAULY,  A.  Real-Encyclopadie  der  classischen  Altetthumswissenschaft  in 
alphabetischer  Ordnung,  Stuttgart,  1846,  s.  v.  interpres. 

PECK,  H.  T.    A  History  of  Classical  Philology,  New  York,  1911,  pp.  52- 

54- 

PECK,  H.  T.  Harper's  Dictionary  of  Classical  Literature  and  Antiquities, 
New  York,  s.  v.  interpres. 

RAWLINSON,  G.  The  History  of  Herodotus,  in  four  volumes,  New  York, 
1861-1893,  notes  on  IV,  24;  87. 

ROLFE,  J.  C.  Did  Liscus  Speak  Latin?  Classical  Journal,  Vol.  VII, 
pp.  126  sqq. 

SITTL,  C.  Die  Gebarden  der  Griechen  und  Romer,  Leipzig,  1890;  especially 
Chapter  XII,  Zeichensprache. 

SMITH,  W.  (Wayte,  W.,  and  G.  E.  Marindin.)  A  Dictionary  of  Greek 
and  Roman  Antiquities,  London,  1890,  s.  v.  interpres. 

SMITH,  W.  A  Smaller  Dictionary  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiquities,  sec- 
ond edition,  London,  1853,  s.  v.  interpres. 

STEPHANUS,  H.    Thesaurus  Graecae  Linguae,  Paris,  1835,  s.  vv.  lpiiT]ve6<;, 


Biblical  quotations  are  according  to  the  American  Revised  Version  of  1901, 
published  by  Thomas  Nelson  and  Sons,  New  York. 


CHAPTER  I 

DIFFICULTIES  OCCASIONED   BY  A  DIFFERENCE 
OF  LANGUAGE 

According  to  the  account  in  the  Old  Testament,  the  whole 
earth  was  originally  of  one  speech;  and  as  the  children  of  men 
had  built  a  city  and  a  tower  in  a  plain  in  the  land  of  Shinar, 
Jehovah  said  (Gen.  XI):  "6.  Behold,  they  are  one  people,  and 
they  have  all  one  language;  and  this  they  begin  to  do;  and  now 
nothing  will  be  withholden  from  them,  which  they  purpose  to 
do.  7.  Come,  let  us  go  down,  and  there  confound  their  lang- 
uage, that  they  may  not  understand  one  another's  speech. 
8.  So  Jehovah  scattered  them  abroad  from  thence  upon  the 
face  of  all  the  earth;  and  they  left  off  building  the  city.  9. 
Therefore  was  the  name  of  it  called  Babel;  because  Jehovah 
did  there  confound  the  language  of  all  the  earth."  Thus  the 
ancient  Hebrews  explain  the  origin  of  the  divers  tongues,  an 
account  which  is  accepted  also  by  Josephus.1 

Pliny,2  realizing  the  importance  of  linguistic  differences,  says 
that  the  existence  of  so  many  languages  among  the  various 
nations,  so  many  modes  of  speech,  so  great  a  variety  of  expres- 
sions, is  a  trifling  thing  apparently,  but  really  of  incalculable 
importance;  for  to  another,  a  man  who  is  of  a  different  country 
is  almost  the  same  as  no  man  at  all.  Similarly  Cicero,*  in 
speaking  of  the  Roman  Epicureans  who  did  not  understand 
Greek  and  of  the  Greeks  who  did  not  understand  Latin,  says 
that  they  are  reciprocally  deaf  as  to  each  other's  language. 
This  principle,  he  says,  applies  to  other  tongues  also;  and  so  he 
makes  the  general  statement,  that  we  are  truly  deaf  with  regard 
to  the  innumerable  languages  which  we  do  not  understand. 


1  Joseph.  Antiq.  lud.  I,  4,  3. 
sPlin.  N.  H.  VII,  I,  I,  §7. 
*Cic.  Tusc.  V,  40,  116. 


10   The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

Again  referring  to  the  barrier  offered  by  foreign  languages, 
in  i  Cor.  XIV,  St.  Paul  says  that  one  does  not  understand  the 
man  who  speaks  an  unknown  tongue.4  In  this  chapter,  he 
makes  the  following  interesting  comparison;  "7.  Even  things 
without  life,  giving  a  voice,  whether  pipe  or  harp,  if  they  give 
not  a  distinction  in  the  sounds,  how  shall  it  be  known  what  is 
piped  or  harped?  8.  For  if  the  trumpet  give  an  uncertain 
voice,  who  shall  prepare  himself  for  war?  9.  So  also  ye,  unless 
ye  utter  by  the  tongue  speech  easy  to  be  understood,  how  shall 
it  be  known  what  is  spoken?  II.  If  then  I  know  not  the  mean- 
ing of  the  voice,  I  shall  be  to  him  that  speaketh  a  barbarian,' 
and  he  that  speaketh  will  be  a  barbarian  unto  me."  In  order 
to  avoid  such  difficulties,  he  advises  that  if  any  one  speak  in  a 
tongue,  one  shall  interpret,  while  two,  or  at  the  most  three,  speak 
in  turn.  But  if  there  be  no  interpreter,  he  commands  them  to 
remain  silent  in  the  church. 


4  In  this  chapter  St.  Paul  discourses  on  speaking  in  tongues,  i.  e.,  unknown 
languages  under  divine  inspiration.  In  this  connexion,  compare  the  tongues 
on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  Acts  II,  i-n:  "And  when  the  day  of  Pentecost  was 
now  come,  they  were  all  together  in  one  place.  2.  And  suddenly  there  came 
from  heaven  a  sound  as  of  the  rushing  of  a  mighty  wind,  and  it  filled  all  the 
house  where  they  were  sitting.  3.  And  there  appeared  unto  them  tongues 
parting  asunder,  like  as  of  fire;  and  it  sat  upon  each  one  of  them.  4.  And 
they  were  all  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  began  to  speak  with  other  tongues, 
as  the  Spirit  gave  them  utterance.  5.  Now  there  were  dwelling  at  Jeru- 
salem Jews,  devout  men,  from  every  nation  under  heaven.  6.  And  when 
this  sound  was  heard,  the  multitude  came  together,  and  were  confounded, 
because  that  every  man  heard  them  speaking  in  his  own  language.  7.  And 
they  were  all  amazed  and  marvelled,  saying,  Behold,  are  not  all  these  that 
speak  Galilaeans?  8.  And  how  hear  we,  every  man  in  our  own  language 
wherein  we  were  born?  9.  Parthians  and  Medes  and  Elamites,  and  the 
dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in  Pontus  and  Asia, 
10.  in  Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and  the  parts  of  Libya  about  Cyrene, 
and  sojourners  from  Rome,  both  Jews  and  proselytes,  II.  Cretans  and 
Arabians,  we  hear  them  speaking  in  our  tongues  the  mighty  works  of  God." 
BCf.  Ovid's  experience  at  Tomi,  Trist.  V,  10,  37  sqq.: 

"Barbarus  hie  ego  sum,  qui  non  intellegor  ulli, 
Et  rident  stolidi  verba  Latina  Getae; 

Meque  palam  de  me  tuto  male  saepe  loquuntur 
Forsitan  obiciunt  exsiliumque  mihi, 

Utque  fit,  in  me  aliquid,  si  quid  dicentibus  illis 
Abnuerim  quotiens  adnuerimque,  putant." 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients   11 

The  Romans  wondered  where  Numa  Pompilius  received  his 
legal  and  religious  training.  Some  wrongly  assumed  that  he 
studied  under  Pythagoras,  but  according  to  Roman  tradition, 
the  latter  lived  more  than  a  hundred  years  later  in  the  reign 
of  Servius  Tullius.  Livy6  says  that  the  tradition  must  be  wrong 
even  though  the  two  had  been  contemporaries;  "for  in  what 
common  language  could  they  have  communicated,  or  with  what 
safety  could  one  man  have  made  his  way  through  so  many 
nations,  differing  in  language  and  manners?"7  In  the  face  of 
such  difficulties,  he  believed  rather  that  Numa's  mind  was  by 
nature  virtuously  endowed  and  that  the  instruction  which  he 
received  was  not  so  much  in  foreign  learning  as  through  the 
rough  and  strict  discipline  of  the  Sabines,  who  were  as  uncor- 
rupted  as  any  race  of  men. 

Xenophon8  also  gives  us  an  example  of  the  difficulty  which 
men  of  different  languages  have  in  understanding  one  another. 
Socrates  asked  Hippias,  "Can  you  then  assert  of  these  unwritten 
laws  that  man  made  them?"  "Nay,  how  could  that  be;" 
answered  Hippias,  "for  how  could  they  all  have  come  together? 
And  even  if  they  had  done  so,  men  are  not  all  of  one  speech." 
He  means  that  there  would  have  been  a  babel  of  tongues. 

Differences  of  language,  it  appears,  have  proved  to  be  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  international  relations.  Sallust,9  in 
mentioning  the  Persians  who  settled  in  Africa,  observes  that 
they  used  the  inverted  hulls  of  ships  as  huts,  since  they  had  no 
timber  in  their  own  fields.  He  also  asserts  that  they  could  not 
obtain  any  timber  from  the  Spaniards,  because  the  great  sea 
and  an  unknown  speech  prevented  commercial  relations.  How- 
ever, the  language  could  not  have  been  the  more  serious  ob- 
stacle, since  we  shall  later  see  that  commerce  could  be  trans- 
acted without  the  use  of  speech. 

On  account  of  the  difference  of  language,  the  vanquished  in 
battle  sometimes  failed  to  make  themselves  understood.  Thus 


•Liv.  I,  18. 

7  Yet  Livy  in  I,  i  does  not  call  our  attention  to  the  difference  of  language 
between  Aeneas  and  Latinus. 

8  Xen.  Mem.  IV,  4,  19. 

9  Sail.  lug.  1 8. 


12    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

when  Sulla10  in  the  Mithridatic  war,  in  the  year  86  B.  C.,  was 
fighting  against  Archelaus,  the  flight  and  slaughter  of  the  bar- 
barians followed.  Some  were  driven  into  a  neighboring  lake, 
and  not  knowing  how  to  swim,  perished  while  begging  for  mercy 
in  their  own  vernacular,  which  was  not  understood  by  the 
Romans. 

For  one  of  the  best  examples  of  an  army  that  spoke  many 
languages,  with  the  attendant  difficulties,  we  may  take  the 
Carthaginian  forces.  The  diversity  of  tongues  assumed  great 
importance  during  the  revolt  of  the  mercenaries  and  at  the 
battle  of  Zama.  However,  since  polyglottous  officers  acted  as  in- 
terpreters, the  narration  of  those  incidents  has  been  reserved 
for  a  later  chapter. 

The  foregoing  examples  suffice  to  show  the  inconvenience 
that  was  occasioned  by  the  differences  of  language,  and  make 
us  realize  that  interpreters  were  a  necessary  institution.  In 
fact,  St.  Paul  expressly  states  the  need  for  them.  So  does 
Aeschylus11  in  a  particular  instance,  when  Cassandra  does  not 
understand  Clytemnestra  and  the  chorus  observes  that  the 
foreign  woman  seems  to  need  a  skillful  interpreter.  Men  of 
different  tongues  in  a  concourse  cannot  work  in  harmony,  and 
the  man  confronted  by  an  unknown  tongue  simply  hears  a 
conglomeration  of  sounds  which  are  entirely  meaningless. 


"Appian,  De  Bella  Mith.  50. 

11  Aesch.  Again.   1046-7   (Wecklein,  Aeschyli  Fabulae,  Berlin,  1885). 


CHAPTER  II 
THE   USE  OF  SIGNS  AND   GESTURES 

"There  was  speech   in  their  dumbness, 
language  in  their  very  gesture." — Shak.  The  Winter's  Tale,  V,  2. 

Now  the  difficulty  of  communicating  with  foreigners  may, 
by  means  of  signs  or  gestures,  be  overcome  without  a  knowledge 
of  their  language.  According  to  Quintilian12,  gestures  are  a 
universal  means  of  conversation.  They  are  often,  however, 
wholly  conventional,  and  just  as  hard  to  understand  by  the 
untutored  as  a  new  language  itself.  Pointing  to  the  mouth 
very  evidently  indicates  hunger,  but  all  gestures  are  not  of  this 
sort.  Modern  Italians  use  a  marvelous  system,  in  which  cer- 
tain movements  seem  to  be  quite  arbitrary. 

The  signs  and  gestures  of  supplication  are  very  simple.  Thus 
Lucan13  says  that  Pompey  should  use  tears  in  addressing  the 
Oriental.  Turning  from  poetry  to  prose,  we  read14  that  in 
the  year  52  B.  C.,  Vercingetorix  appeared  before  Caesar  to  ask 
for  pardon;  he  came  in  without  any  announcement  by  herald, 
and  on  account  of  his  sudden  appearance,  alarmed  some  that 
were  present.  When  quiet  had  been  restored,  he  uttered  not  a 
word,  but  fell  upon  his  knees  and  remained  so  with  clasped 
hands. 


12  Quint.   Inst.   XI,   3,   85-7:  "Nam  ceterae  partes  loquentem  adiuvant, 
hae  (manus),  prope  est  ut  dicam,  ipsae  loquuntur.     An  non  his  poscimus, 
pollicemur,    vocamus,    dimittimus,    minamur,    supplicamus,    abominamur, 
timemus,  interrogamus,  negamus?    Gaudium,  tristitiam,  dubitationem,  con- 
fessionem,    paenitentiam,    modum,  copiam,  numerum,  tempus  ostendimus? 
Non  eaedem  concitant,  inhibent,  supplicant,  probant,  admirantur,  verecun- 
dantur?     Non  in  demonstrandis  locis  atque  personis  adverbiorum  atque  pro- 
nominum  obtinent  vicem?     Utintanta  per  omnis  gentes  nationesque  linguae 
diversitate  hie  mihi  omnium  hominum  communis  sermo  videatur. " 

13  Lucan,  Phars.   VIII,   348-9:  "Exiget    ignorans    Latiae    commercia  lin- 
guae |   Ut  lacrimis  se,  Magne,  roges. " 

14  Cassius  Dio,  XL,  41. 

13 


14    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

Since  gestures  are  a  universal  means  of  conversation,  more 
complicated  ideas  may  be  expressed  by  them.  Once  upon  a 
time  during  their  invasion  of  Scythia,  the  Amazons  were  en- 
camped near  an  army  of  Scythian  youths.  Herodotus18  in 
narrating  the  incident  tells  us  that  they  did  not  understand 
each  other's  language.  When  some  incident  brought  a  youth 
and  an  Amazon  together,  the  man  easily  gained  the  good  graces 
of  the  woman,  communicating  by  means  of  signs.  Aeschylus16 
also  refers  to  the  use  of  gestures.  When  Clytemnestra  was 
taunting  the  captive  Cassandra  and  received  no  reply,  she  told 
her  that,  if  she  did  not  understand  her,  she  should  use  her  bar- 
barian17 hand  instead  of  her  voice.  The  tragedian  inconsistent- 
ly assumes  that  the  Trojan  maid  was  able  to  comprehend  what 
Clytemnestra  said  without  being  able  to  express  herself  in  the 
language. 

The  effective  use  of  gestures  depends  upon  the  temperament 
of  the  individual.  Thus  to-day  the  vivacious  southern  Euro- 
pean has  a  command  over  them  that  is  altogether  unattainable 
by  the  more  phlegmatic  Teuton.  In  fact,  a  rather  wide  and 
complicated  range  of  ideas  may  be  so  expressed.  For  example, 
we  are  told  by  Lucian18  of  a  certain  man  from  the  barbarians  of 
Pontus,  a  semi-Graecus  of  royal  rank,  who  was  at  the  court  of 
Nero  on  official  business.  There  he  beheld  a  remarkable  pan- 
tomimic dancer,  whose  actions  were  so  expressive  that  he  under- 
stood everything,  although  he  could  not  follow  the  words  which 
were  sung.  When  the  ambassador  prepared  to  leave,  Nero 
promised  to  give  him  whatever  he  desired.  He  asked  for  the 
dancer,  because  he  ruled  barbarians  of  different  languages,  and 
since  it  was  difficult  to  obtain  interpreters  for  his  people,  the 
dancer  by  his  movements  might  make  known  the  king's  wishes 
to  his  subjects,  whatever  their  language. 

Commerce  may  be  transacted  even  without  the  use  of  gestures. 
Herodotus19  tells  us  that  the  Carthaginians  carried  on  a  dumb 


"Hdt.  IV,  in;  113. 
18  Aesch.  A  gam.  1045. 

17  Aeschylus,  not  considering  the  Trojans  to  be  Greeks,  calls  them  bar- 
barians. 

18  Lucian,  De  Sal.  64. 
M  Hdt.  IV,  196. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients   15 

commerce  in  Western  Africa  beyond  the  Pillars  of  Hercules. 
When  the  Carthaginians  came  to  these  people,  they  took  out 
their  cargo,  and  having  arranged  it  on  the  shore,  went  back  to 
their  boats  and  raised  a  smoke.  On  seeing  this  the  natives  came 
to  the  sea  and  laid  some  gold  opposite  the  wares  and  then  with- 
drew. Then  the  Carthaginians  landed  again,  and  if  the  gold 
appeared  to  them  sufficient  for  the  goods,  they  took  it  up  and 
departed.  But  if  it  was  not  enough,  they  went  back  to  their 
boats.  Again  the  natives  came  forth  and  added  gold  until 
they  satisfied  the  traders.  It  is  said  that  no  one  cheated. 
The  traders  did  not  take  the  precious  metal  until  it  seemed  to 
them  to  compensate  for  the  value  of  the  goods,  nor  did  the 
natives  seize  the  goods  before  the  traders  took  the  gold.  In 
a  similar  instance,  Pliny20  asserts  that  the  Seres  had  no  language 
of  their  own,  but  simply  made  an  uncouth  sort  of  noise  by  way 
of  talking.  But  apparently  this  presented  no  obstacle  to  trade. 
The  merchandise  for  sale  was  left  by  merchants  on  the  bank 
of  a  river,  and  it  was  then  removed  by  the  natives  if  they  thought 
proper  to  make  an  exchange  of  goods. 


a  Plin.  N.  H.  VI,  22,  24, 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  INSTITUTION  OF  INTERPRETERS 

Even  if  certain  linguistic  differences,  as  we  have  seen,  may 
be  overcome  by  the  use  of  gestures,  the  ideas  thus  expressed 
are  naturally  limited.  If  men  who  do  not  understand  each 
other's  language  wish  to  hold  a  parley  on  a  subject  which  cannot 
be  expressed  by  gestures,  the  only  resource  left  is  an  interpreter, 
or  even  a  series  of  interpreters.  The  use  of  them  must  have 
been  very  general,  since  references  to  interpreters  are  found  in 
the  Greek  and  Latin  literature  of  all  periods. 

We  hear  of  remarkable  historical  characters,  who  spoke 
many  languages  with  great  ease,  and  so  did  not  need  any  inter- 
mediaries. Most  conspicuous  of  these  is  Mithri dates  the 
Great,  of  whom  Pliny21  says  that  he  knew  twenty-two  languages. 
Again  in  N.  H.  VII,  24,  24,  §88,  he  states  that,  as  king  over 
twenty-two  races,  Mithridates  pronounced  justice  in  as  many 
tongues.  Valerius  Maximus22  informs  us  of  the  same  attain- 
ment. Aulus  Gellius"  increases  to  twenty-five  the  number 
of  languages  which  the  king  spoke  fluently.  A  later  writer," 
not  content  with  these  low  figures,  ascribes  to  him  a  knowledge 
of  fifty  tongues. 

A  polyglot  of  the  other  sex  is  Cleopatra,  who  according  to 
Plutarch**  spoke  most  languages  and  answered  most  of  the 


a  Plin.  N.  H.  XXV,  2,  3,  §6:  "ilium  solum  mortalium  viginti  duabus 
linguis  locutum  certum  est. " 

HVal.  Max.  VIII,  7,  1 6. 

a  Cell.  XVII,  17:  "quinque  et  viginti  gentium,  quas  sub  dicione  habuit, 
linguas  percalluit  earumque  omnium  gentium  viris  haut  umquam  per  inter- 
pretem  conlocutus  est,  sed  ut  quemque  ab  eo  appellari  usus  fuit,  proinde 
lingua  et  oratione  ipsius  non  minus  scite,  quam  si  gentilis  eius  esset,  locutus 
est." 

»  Ps.  Aur.  Viet.  Vir.  itt.  LXXVI,  i. 

"  Plut.  Anton.  27. 

16 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients    17 

foreign  ambassadors  in  their  own  vernacular.  He  maintains 
that  she  gave  audience  herself  to  the  Ethiopians,  the  Troglo- 
dytes, the  Hebrews,  the  Arabs,  the  Syrians,  the  Medes,  and  the 
Parthians.  Nor  were  these  all  the  languages  that  she  under- 
stood, though  the  kings  of  Egypt  who  preceded  her  could  hardly 
ever  acquire  a  knowledge  of  Egyptian,  and  some  of  them  for- 
got even  their  original  Macedonian. 

Besides  these  two  remarkable  polyglots,  we  read  of  men  of 
smaller  attainments;  but  usually  in  mentioning  bilinguists  or 
polyglots  the  authors  state  the  fact  without  assigning  the  reason 
for  the  acquisition  of  the  languages. 

We  may  suppose  that  some  interpreters  had  parents  of  dif- 
ferent nationalities.  For  example,  a  man  who  was  bilingual16 
— that  is,  he  knew  Greek  and  Persian — having  a  Lycian  father 
and  a  Persian  mother,  offered  himself  as  a  guide  to  Alexander 
on  the  latter's  entrance  into  Persia.  Furthermore,  Herodotus17 
narrates  that  Scylas,  son  of  the  Scythian  king  Ariapithes,  was 
the  child,  not  of  a  native  Scythian,  but  of  a  woman  of  Istria, 
from  whom  he  gained  an  acquaintance  with  the  Greek  language 
and  letters.  Without  doubt  Scylas  knew  Scythian  too,  al- 
though the  mention  of  him  here  does  not,  of  course,  mean 
that  he  ever  served  as  a  professional  interpreter. 

As  linguists  were  in  demand  in  international,  diplomatic, 
and  commercial  affairs,  a  man  so  fortunate  as  to  be  a  polyglot 
might  be  tempted  to  enter  such  a  field  in  preference  to  spending 
his  time  in  learning  a  trade  or  profession.  Also,  a  polyglot 
who  was  not  a  professional  interpreter  might,  by  his  accidental 
presence  on  an  occasion  where  an  interpreter  was  demanded, 
perform  duties  as  such. 

But  no  doubt  some  men  studied  languages  for  the  express 
purpose  of  acting  as  interpreters;  or  even  if  their  original  in- 
tention was  not  to  serve  in  that  capacity,  later  developments 
may  have  induced  them  to  enter  that  field.  Alexander28  se- 


28  Plut.  Alex.  37.  Since  his  father  was  a  Lycian,  no  doubt  he  spoke  Lycian 
also;  but  Greek  and  Persian  were  the  languages  he  needed  in  his  services 
and  so  were  vividly  in  the  writer's  mind.  For  this  reason,  Plutarch  ignores 
his  knowledge  of  Lycian  and  does  not  call  him  trilingual. 

27  Hdt.  IV,  78. 

28  Plut.  Alex.  47,  3. 


18    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

lected  thirty  thousand  Persian  boys  and  furnished  masters 
to  instruct  them  in  the  Greek  tongue.  From  the  various  na- 
tions of  Spain,  Sertorius"  collected  the  children  of  the  nobility 
into  the  city  of  Osca  and  appointed  masters  to  teach  them 
the  Greek  and  Roman  learning.  The  spread  of  the  Macedonian 
and  Roman  arms  was  followed  by  the  study  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  languages,  not  only  for  cultural  purposes,  but  quite 
naturally  also  for  practical  ends.  Thus  the  native  of  a  con- 
quered province,  who  knew  either  speech,  could  act  as  inter- 
preter between  his  compatriots  and  the  conquerors. 

Probably  very  few  men  become  expert  polyglots  by  deliber- 
ately studying  languages,  although  we  are  told  that  Themis- 
tocles  devoted  himself  to  a  study  of  Persian  with  a  definite 
purpose.  In  his  day  there  were  no  grammars,  lexicons,  and 
chrestomathies,  and  a  man  who  wished  to  study  a  foreign  lang- 
uage had  many  disadvantages  not  existing  in  our  day.  The 
most  natural  way  of  acquiring  a  foreign  speech  was  to  live  in 
a  district  where  several  tongues  were  spoken  and  where  their 
acquisition  was  a  necessity  and  was  accomplished  without  any 
conscious  effort.  In  a  cosmopolitan  city  or  in  a  region  inhabited 
by  several  nationalities,  the  children  by  associating  with  each 
other  acquire  various  languages  with  great  facility.  A  man  thus 
favored  was  Quintus  Ennius30,  who  was  born  near  Rudiae  in 
Calabria  and  said  that  he  had  three  hearts,  because  he  could 
speak  Greek,  Oscan,  and  Latin. 

It  seems  very  probable  that  most  interpreters  came  from  the 
lower  classes.  In  many  cases  they  were  freedmen  or  slaves, 
and  the  language  which  they  interpreted,  especially  into  Greek 
and  Latin,  was  their  own  vernacular.31  In  traveling  either  as 
a  tourist  or  as  a  man  of  fortune,  a  person  would  acquire  a  good 
many  languages  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  provided  that  he 
stayed  long  enough  in  one  place.  The  poet  Ovid  in  his  exile 

M  Plut.  Sertorius  14,  2. 

10  Cell.  XVII,  17. 

n  Cf.  the  Macronian  who  had  been  a  slave  at  Athens,  Xen.  Anab.  IV,  8,  4. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  19 

learned  to  speak"  Getic  and  Sarmatian,  and  actually  wrote33 
in  the  former  tongue.  In  conference  with  the  remote  barbar- 
ians, probably  the  most  available  interpreters  were  the  mer- 
chants, the  "lixae  ac  negotiatores,  quos  ius  commercii,  dein 
cupido  augendi  pecuniam,  postremum  oblivio  patriae  suis 
quemque  ab  sedibus  hostilem  in  agrum  transtulerat.  "M 

For  the  definite  mention  of  professionally  trained  linguists, 
we  have  to  turn  to  Herodotus'  account  of  Egypt.  According 
to  the  historian36  the  people  of  that  country  were  divided  into 
seven  classes:  priests,  warriors,  cowherds,  swineherds,  trades- 
men, interpreters,  and  boatmen.  To  the  lonians  and  Carians 
who  had  lent  him  their  assistance,  Psammetichus36  assigned  as 
abodes  two  places  opposite  to  each  other,  one  on  either  side  of 
the  Nile,  which  were  called  STpaToxeSa.  Further,  he  entrusted 
to  their  care  certain  Egyptian  children,  whom  they  were  to 
teach  Greek.  These  children,  thus  instructed,  became  the 
parents  of  the  entire  class  of  interpreters  in  Egypt. 


°Ov.  Trist.  V,  12,  58-59: 

"Ipse  mihi  videor  iam  dedidicisse  Latine; 
Nam  didici  Getice  Sarmaticeque  loqui. " 
Cf.  Ov.  Pont.  Ill,  2,  40. 
11  Ov.  Pont.  IV,  13,  17  sqq.: 

"Nee  te  mirari,  si  sint  vitiosa,  decebit 

Carmina,  quae  faciam  paene  poeta  Getes. 
A!  pudet,  et  Getico  scripsi  sermone  libellum, 

Structaque  sunt  nostris  barbara  verba  modis." 
MTac.  Ann.  II,  62. 

35  Hdt.  II,  164. 

36  Hdt.  II,  154- 


CHAPTER  IV 

GENERAL  REFERENCES  TO  INTERPRETERS 

In  reading  the  classics,  we  find  that  sometimes  the  authors 
refer  to  interpreters  without  implying  a  specific  conference,  or 
if  a  parley  was  held,  they  do  not  mention  the  languages  inter- 
preted. While  the  Ten  Thousand  Greeks  were  within  the  con- 
fines of  the  Persian  Empire,  they  had  frequent  occasions  to  use 
interpreters,  usually,  we  may  suppose,  to  translate  Persian  or 
dialects  of  Persian  into  Greek.  Xenophon37  informs  us  that  the 
interpreter  of  the  Greeks  (apparently  when  he  was  not  perform- 
ing his  duties  as  such)  said  that  he  saw  and  recognized  the 
brother  of  Tissaphernes  with  Ariaeus,  Artaozus,  and  Mithri- 
dates.  On  account  of  the  many  languages38  within  the  Persian 
Empire,  the  Great  King  must  have  needed  linguistic  experts 
continually.  In  narrating  the  conquests  of  Alexander,  Quintus 
Curtius39  mentions  the  capture  of  Melon,  the  interpreter  of 
Darius. 


37  Xen.  Anab.  II,  5,  35. 

38  See  Xen.  Cyr.  I,  1,4:  "  Kupoq  8£  iuapaXa@(bv  waaiiTGx;  OUTCO  xal  T« 


'  Aa(a  eOviQ  auTOvojxa  ovia  Sp^Gelq  auv  6X{yn  Ilepawv  atpaTt?  £x6vTwv  [ikv 
fjYTjaaTO  M-rjBtov,  £x6vTwv  Si  'Ypxavlwv,  xatwrpitjMCTO  81  26pou?, 
'Aaaupfoug,  'Apa^lou?,  KaTCTCa86xa<;,  ^puyaq  d^OT^pouc;,  AuSoiii;,  Kapaq, 
^ofvcxaq,  Ba^uXwvloui;,  ^p^s  §k  BaxTptwv  xal  'IvSwv  xal  KtX(xwv,  waaurox; 
8^  Saxtov  xal  nac^Xayovwv  xal  MaptavBuvwv  xal  SXXwv  8^  TuafxicdXXwv 
^0vwv,  (liv  068'  <2v  Ta  6v6(xaTa  exot  TI?  eficetv,  ^ojp^s  8^  xal  'EXXiQVwv 
T<OV  dv  Tfj  'Aa(ijt,  xaTa^a?  8^  £id  GdcXaTTav  xal  Kuxp(wv  xal  A?YUXT((OV. 
(5)  Kal  ToSvuv  TWV  £6vtov  TOUTWV  ^p^ev  oDie  aOrq)  6(jLoyXwTT(ov  OVTCOV 
OUTS  aXX^Xotq."  ....  Although  this  passage  refers  to  an  earlier  period, 
we  can  hardly  suppose  that  the  Persian  Empire  was  of  homogeneous  speech 
at  the  time  of  Alexander.  Presumably  Darius  had  other  interpreters  besides 
Melon  (Curt.  V,  13,  7).  In  what  languages  the  latter  was  proficient,  we  do 
not  know. 
»  Curt.  V,  13,  7- 

20 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients    21 

Interpreters,40  it  appears,  were  sometimes  in  the  service  of 
private  persons.  Cicero,  Ad  fam.  XIII,  54  refers  to  one  that 
he  had  in  his  own  employ  or  household.  He  twice  mentions41 
one  named  Valerius. 

Interpreters  of  many  languages,  not  specifically  named,  were 
used  on  one  occasion  by  Sulla.  Plutarch  in  his  life  of  the  Dic- 
tator42 narrates  the  story  that  near  Apollonia,  in  a  sacred  spot 
called  the  Nymphaeum,  a  satyr  was  taken  asleep,  looking 
exactly  like  those  which  sculptors  and  painters  represented. 
When  he  was  brought  to  Sulla,  he  was  interrogated  through 
many  interpreters  as  to  who  he  was,  but  he  uttered  hardly  any- 
thing intelligible,  his  accent  being  harsh,  something  between 
the  neighing  of  a  horse  and  the  bleating  of  a  goat. 

Interpreters  were  sometimes  used  by  commanders  in  a  spirit 
of  haughtiness,  where  the  occasion  did  not  demand  their  use. 
Bolon,43  the  proud  captain  of  Alexander,  although  he  had  been 
promoted  •  from  a  humble  station  and  was  Macedonian  by  birth, 
did  not  blush  with  shame  at  hearing  men  of  his  own  tongue 
through  an  interpreter.  Hannibal44  is  said  to  have  been  so 
elated  by  his  success  at  Cannae  that  he  would  not  admit  any  of 
his  fellow  countrymen  into  camp  nor  give  a  reply  to  anyone 
except  through  an  interpreter.  It  would  appear  that  by  inter- 
posing this  barrier,  the  general  felt  that  he  removed  to  a  greater 
distance  the  person  addressing  him. 

Interpreters,  although  not  indispensable,  greatly  facilitated 
commerce.  Herodotus46  says  that  some  of  the  Scythians  were 
accustomed  to  penetrate  as  far  as  the  ''Bald-Headed  Men" 
and  that  the  Greeks  from  the  mart  on  the  Borysthenes  and 
from  other  trade  centers  along  the  Euxine  went  to  the  same 


40  For  a  general  reference  to  interpreters,  cf.  Cic.  Vatin.  15,  35:  "Et  quo- 
niam  legationis  tuae  facta  mentio  est  ....  Adeone  tibi  sordidum  consi- 
lium  visum  est,  adeo  afflictus  senatus,  adeo  misera  et  prostrata  res  publica, 
ut  non  nuntios  pacis  ac  belli,  non  oratores,  non  interpretes,  non  bellici  consilii 
auctores,  non  ministros  muneris  provincialis  senatus  more  maiorum  deligere 
posset?" 

41  Cic.  Ad  Alt.  I,  12,  2  and  XVI,  11,7. 

42  Plut.  Sulla  27,  2. 
.     «Curt.  VI,  ii,  4. 

"Val.  Max.  IX,  5,  Ext.  3. 
48  Hdt.  IV,  24. 


22    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

land.  The  Scythians,  he  says,  who  made  this  journey  communi- 
cated with  the  inhabitants  by  means  of  seven  linguists  and 
seven  languages."  According  to  Pliny47  still  more  interpreters 
were  required  in  trading  at  Dioscurias  in  Colchis,  in  his  time 
deserted,  but  once  such  a  famous  city,  that,  according  to  Timos- 
thenes,  three  hundred  nations,  all  of  different  languages,  were 
in  the  habit  of  resorting  to  it.  In  later  times,  the  Romans  had 
there  one  hundred  and  thirty  interpreters  for  the  purpose  of 
transacting  business. 


**  It  is  impossible  to  judge  what  these  were.  Cf.  Rawlinson,  Transl.  of 
Hdt.  in  a  note  to  the  above  passage:  "Herodotus  probably  intends  the  lang- 
uage of  the  Scythians,  the  Sauromatae,  the  Budini,  the  Geloni,  the  Thys- 
sagetae,  the  lyrcae,  and  the  Argippaeans.  But  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
the  traders  would  have  had  to  pass  through  all  these  tribes." 

47  Plin.  N.  H.  VI,  5,  5,  §15- 


CHAPTER  V 

INTERPRETERS    OF    ONE    BARBARIAN    LANGUAGE 
INTO  ANOTHER 

If  for  our  present  purpose  the  term  barbarian  be  understood 
to  denote  all  languages  except  Greek  and  Latin,  an  early  ex- 
ample in  this  category48  takes  us  to  Persia.  Herodotus"  in- 
forms us  that  Cyrus  the  Great  had  interpreters  in  his  service. 
When  Sardis  was  captured  by  the  Persians,  Croesus  himself 
fell  into  their  hands.  A  vast  pyre  had  been  raised  by  the  or- 
ders of  Cyrus;  and  Croesus,  laden  with  fetters,  was  placed  upon 
it,  and  with  him  fourteen  sons  of  the  Lydians.  As  he  was  on 
this  funeral  pile,  it  came  into  his  mind  that  there  was  a  divine 
warning  in  the  words  which  had  come  to  him  from  the  lips  of 
Solon,  that  no  one  can  be  pronounced  happy  before  his  death. 
Breaking  his  deep  silence,  he  groaned  aloud,  thrice  uttering 
the  name  of  Solon.  Cyrus  caught  the  sounds  and  bade  the  in- 
terpreters inquire  of  Croesus  upon  whom  he  called.  They 
drew  near  and  asked  him,  but  he  held  his  peace  and  for  a  long 
time  made  no  answer  to  their  questionings,  until  at  length,  forced 
to  say  something,  he  exclaimed,  "One  I  would  give  much  to 
see  conversing  with  every  monarch."  Not  knowing  what  he 
meant  by  this  reply,  the  interpreters  begged  him  to  explain 
himself;  and  as  they  pressed  for  an  answer,  he  told  them  of  the 


48  The  Old  Testament  narrative,  Gen.  XLII,  20  sqq.,  also  shows  that  in- 
terpreters were  regularly  used  to  translate  barbarian  languages.  The  vice- 
roy of  Egypt,  in  conversing  with  the  Semites  from  Canaan,  employed  one. 
When  the  sons  of  Jacob  came  to  Egypt  for  corn,  Joseph  demanded  that  his 
brethren  bring  their  youngest  brother  also  to  Egypt,  saying,  "So  shall  your 
words  be  verified  and  ye  shall  not  die. "  Then  they  felt  sorry  that  they  had 
wronged  their  brother  Joseph,  while  Reuben  reminded  them  that  it  had  been 
done  against  his  advice.  But  they  did  not  know  that  Joseph  understood 
them;  for  he  spoke  unto  them  by  an  interpreter. 

49Hdt.  I,  86. 

23 


24    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

visit  that  Solon  a  long  time  before  had  paid  him.  In  the  mean- 
while, the  pyre  had  been  lighted;  but  Cyrus  on  hearing  from 
his  linguists  what  Croesus  had  said,  ordered  the  fire  to  be  ex- 
tinguished and  Croesus  to  be  taken  down. 

Not  only  did  Cyrus  have  men  to  translate  Lydian,  but  he 
had  also,  according  to  Xenophon,60  those  who  knew  Syrian." 
When  he  attacked  Babylon,  he  sent  a  body  of  horse  up  and 
down  through  the  streets,  bidding  them  kill  those  whom  they 
found  abroad.  He  also  ordered  some  who  knew  Syrian,  i.e. 
Aramaic,  to  proclaim  to  those  that  were  in  the  houses  to  remain 
within,  commanding  that  if  any  were  caught  outside,  they 
should  be  killed.  He  also  ordered  heralds  to  make  proclama- 
tion that  the  Babylonians  should  give  up  their  arms,  and  that 
all  the  people  in  any  house  where  arms  were  found,  should  suffer 
death. 

It  seems,  however,  that  the  Persian  King  did  not  have  men 
who  could  speak  the  language  of  remote  countries.  Thus 
Cambyses,"  wishing  to  make  an  expedition  against  the  long- 
lived  Ethiopians,  who  lived  in  that  part  of  Libya  which  bor- 
ders upon  the  Southern  Sea,  made  up  his  mind  to  send  spies 
there  under  pretense  of  carrying  gifts  to  the  king.  So  he  sent 
to  Elephantine  for  certain  Ichthyophagi,  who  were  acquainted 
with  the  Ethiopian  tongue  and  accordingly  rendered  him  their 
services. 

One  of  the  most  important  instances  of  the  differences  of 
language  and  the  use  of  interpreters  is  found  in  the  Carthaginian 
army.  For  this  reason,  the  mutiny  of  the  mercenaries  is  es- 
pecially interesting  for  our  purpose.  Polybius"  tells  us  that 
there  were  constant  conferences  hastily  arranged,  sometimes  of 
separate  nationalities,  sometimes  of  the  whole  army;  but  since 

60  Xen.  Cyr.  VII,  5,  31. 

61  Xenophon,  it  appears,  does  not  mean  Syrian,  but  Assyrian,  as  he  oc- 
casionally uses  Syrian  for  Assyrian.     Cf.  Cyr.  V,  4,  51 :  e!<;  Tii  ne06pca  TWV 
Supwvxal  MirjSuv,  and  VIII,  3,  24-25.     Syrian  or  Assyrian,  referring  to  the 
language  of  Babylon  at  this  and  later  times,  does  not  mean  the  Old  Babylonian, 
but  the  Aramaic.     This  was  already  widely  spread  when  the  Persians  became 
supreme  in  Asia,  and  in  driving  out  other  Semitic  dialects,  became  a  lingua 
franca  in  Asia  Minor,  Palestine  and  the  Tigris-Euphrates  valley. 

52  Hdt.  Ill,  19. 
«  Polyb.  I,  67. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  25 

there  was  no  unity  of  race  or  language  among  them,  the  entire 
camp  became  a  babel  of  confusion.  As  there  were  in  the  army54 
Iberians  and  Celts,  men  from  Liguria  and  from  the  Balearic 
Islands  and  a  not  inconsiderable  number  of  half-breed  Greeks 
— mostly  deserters  and  slaves — it  was  impossible  to  collect  and 
address  them  en  masse  or  to  discover  any  other  means  for  this 
purpose.  For  how  was  it  to  be  done?  The  general  could  not 
possibly  know  their  several  languages,  and  to  make  a  speech 
four  or  five  times  on  the  same  subject  through  several  inter- 
preters was  hardly  feasible.  As  the  only  alternative,  Hanno, 
who  represented  the  Carthaginian  government,  constantly  en- 
deavored to  address  his  entreaties  and  exhortations  to  the 
soldiers  through  their  officers.  But  he  had  the  same  difficulty 
with  them.  Sometimes  they  failed  to  understand  what  he  said; 
at  other  times  they  received  his  words  with  expressions  of  ap- 
proval and  yet  made  reports  to  the  common  soldiers  in  a  con- 
trary sense,  some  doing  it  through  error,  others  through  mal- 
ice.85 The  result  was  a  general  condition  of  uncertainty,  mistrust, 
and  misunderstanding. 

Polybius56  goes  on  to  say  that,  in  order  to  restore  discipline, 
Gesco,  a  representative  of  the  government,  held  a  meeting  of 
the  officers  and  then  of  the  men  according  to  their  nationalities . 
He  rebuked  them  for  their  past  conduct  and  endeavored  to 
show  them  their  duty  in  the  present.  He  certainly  must  have 
used  interpreters  in  addressing  the  various  nationalities,  al- 
though Polybius  does  not  mention  them. 

At  length  the  mutineers  in  common  learned  the  one  word 
"throw."  Spendius,  a  Campanian  slave,  and  Mathos,  a  Libyan, 
delivered  violent  invectives  against  Gesco  and  the  Carthaginians. 
Our  historian  does  not  inform  us  in  what  tongue  they  addressed 


84  For  the  nationalities  in  the  army  of  Hannibal,  see  Livy,  XXIII,  5,  II 
and  Polybius,  XI,  19. 

66  Ovid  seems  to  have  had  a  similar  experience  of  being  misinterpreted 
among  the  Getae.     Cf.  Ov.  Pont.  IV,  14,  39  sqq.: 

"Falsa  tamen  passa  est  aequa  convicia  mente 

Obfuit  auctori  nee  fera  lingua  suo. 
At  malus  interpres  populi  mihi  concitat  iram, 
Inque  novum  crimen  carmina  nostra  vocat. 
Tarn  felix  utinam,  quam  pectore  candidus  essem! 

Exstat  adhuc  nemo  saucius  ore  meo." 
*8Polyb.  I,  69-70. 


26    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

the  soldiers,  but  in  the  eightieth  chapter  of  the  first  book  he 
tells  us  that,  thanks  to  the  length  of  previous  service,  Phoeni- 
cian (meaning  Punic)  was  the  language  which  the  greatest 
number  of  men  understood  best.  Presumably  Spendius  and 
Mathos  spoke  Carthaginian,  i.  e.,  the  Carthaginian  of  the  camp, 
which  was  no  doubt  illiterate  and  vulgar,  but  readily  acquired 
by  many  foreigners  in  the  army.  Probably  they  could  appeal 
to  a  larger  number  of  men  by  interspersing  violent  expressions 
in  other  languages  with  the  Punic.  They  could  easily  have 
learned  enough  of  these  to  catch  the  ear  of  the  soldiers  who  did 
not  understand  Punic."  For  this  same  reason,  the  violent 
speeches  of  these  two  men  could  probably  be  followed  by  a 
greater  number  of  mercenaries  than  could  the  exhortations  of 
Hanno  and  Gesco,  entreating  the  soldiers  to  be  patient.  Spen- 
dius and  Mathos  also  must  have  been  very  popular  among  the 
soldiery,  and  this  would  aid  a  great  deal  in  keeping  the  soldiers 
in  order  while  they  delivered  their  invectives.  Even  if  many 
mercenaries  did  not  understand  the  words  of  these  two  men, 
they  knew  which  side  they  represented,  and  by  understanding  a 
few  proper  names  coupled  with  inciting  gestures  of  the  speakers, 
they  were  satisfied.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  necessary  for 
Gesco  to  be  thoroughly  understood  and  so  he  addressed  the 
officers  and  held  assemblies  of  the  soldiers  according  to  nation- 
alities. No  one  but  Spendius  and  Mathos  could  get  a  hearing 
before  the  mutinous  soldiers;  whoever  did  attempt  to  speak, 
was  promptly  stoned  to  death,  before  the  assembly  had  waited 
long  enough  to  ascertain  which  party  he  intended  to  support. 
A  considerable  number  of  privates  as  well  as  officers  were  killed 
in  this  manner  in  the  various  tumults  which  took  place;  and 
from  the  constant  repetition  of  this  act  of  violence,  the  whole 
army  learned  the  meaning  of  the  word  "fyzXXe",68  although 


57  How  many  men  were  present  at  these  meetings,  it  is  impossible  to  judge. 
It  is  highly  improbable  that  one  man  stood  up  and  spoke  while  the  whole 
mutinous  body  listened  attentively. 

68  We  can  hardly  suppose  that  they  used  the  Greek  word,  unless  some 
half-breed  Greeks  happened  to  shout  that  word  when  the  throwing  began. 
In  that  case,  it  could  have  been  caught  by  the  other  nationalities  and  gradu- 
ally learned  by  the  whole  army.  Since  Punic  was  the  language  best  known 
in  the  army,  one  would  infer  that  the  Punic  word  for  "throw"  was  used,  and 
that  Polybius  simply  translates  the  expression.  If  a  soldier  whose  language 
was  neither  Greek  nor  Punic  shouted  first,  the  word  of  his  language  would 
have  become  the  common  expression. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  27 

there  was  not  another  word  which  was  intelligible  to  them  all 
in  common.  The  most  usual  occasion  for  this  to  happen  was 
when  they  collected  in  crowds,  flushed  with  wine  after  their 
midday  meal.  On  such  occasions,  if  some  one  started  the  cry 
"$dXXe",  such  volleys  of  stones  were  poured  in  from  every  side 
and  with  such  rapidity,  that  it  was  impossible  for  any  one  to 
escape  who  once  ventured  to  stand  forward  to  address  them. 
The  result  was  that  soon  no  one  had  the  courage  to  offer  them 
any  counsel  at  all. 

Although  Spendius  and  Mathos  were  very  popular,  their 
colleague  Autaritus,  a  general  of  the  Gauls,  also  attained  a 
very  distinguished  position  among  the  mutinous  soldiery. 
Polybius59  tells  us  that  he  was  the  most  effective  speaker,  be- 
cause he  could  make  himself  understood  by  a  large  number  of 
those  present  at  a  meeting.  On  account  of  the  length  of  his 
service,  he  was  able  to  speak  Phoenician,  the  language  to  which, 
as  we  have  already  remarked  above,  the  largest  number  of  men 
could  listen  intelligently.60  Accordingly  his  speech  was  received 
with  acclamation  and  at  the  close  of  his  address  he  received 
loud  applause. 

But  when  many  of  the  several  nationalities,  being  moved  by 
Gesco's  former  acts  of  kindness,  came  forward  at  the  same  time 
and  would  have  deprecated  at  least  the  infliction  of  torture, 
not  a  word  of  what  they  said  was  understood;  partly  because 
many  were  speaking  at  the  same  time,  and  partly  because  every 
one  offered  counsel  in  his  native  language.  But  when  at  length 
it  was  disclosed  that  their  intention  was  to  dissuade  the  inflic- 
tion of  torture,  one  of  those  present  shouted  "@dXXe. "  Then 
the  mercenaries  stoned  to  death  all  who  had  come  forward  to 
speak. 


59  Polyb.  I,  80. 

60  Polybius  does  not  tell  us  anything  about  the  speech  Spendius  and  Mathos 
actually  used,  but  in  addressing  the  whole  assembly,  we  can  hardly  suppose 
that  they  spoke  any  other  language,  at  least  for  the  main  part  of  their  harangues, 
than   Punic.     Probably  they  owed  their  success  to   other  characteristics. 
Spendius  was  a  man  of  great  daring  and  physical  strength,  qualities  which 
would  be  admired  by  a  mob.     Even  if  these  two  men  were  of  poor  linguistic 
attainments,  the  discontented  soldiers  would  idolize  them  because  they  roused 
the  spirit  of  revolt  and  abused  the  government.     If  Autaritus  was  the  most 
effective  speaker  on  account  of  linguistic  ability,  Spendius  and  Mathos  prob- 
ably made  up  for  this  deficiency  by  powerful  and  magnetic  personalities. 


28   The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

The  question  of  language  in  the  Carthaginian  army  again 
confronts  us  at  the  battle  of  Zama.  In  describing  that  conflict, 
Livy"  states  that  the  Carthaginians  used  various  methods  of 
encouraging  such  a  number  of  men,  differing  from  one  another 
in  language,  in  manners,  in  laws,  in  garb,  in  temper,  and  in 
their  motives  for  engaging  in  the  service.  Hannibal  devoted 
his  attention  to  the  Carthaginians,"  and  the  commanders  of 
the  several  nations  addressed  their  respective  countrymen;  but 
even  many  of  these  had  to  speak  through  interpreters  on  ac- 
count of  the  admixture  of  foreigners. 

The  quotation  from  Polybius,  in  the  footnote,  clearly  indicates, 
however,  that  Hannibal  simply  addressed  his  army  of  veterans. 
Presumably  those  of  his  soldiers  who  were  not  Carthaginians 
had  acquired  some  knowledge  of  Punic  during  their  long  service. 
If  the  mutinous  mercenaries  had  some  acquaintance  with 
Punic,  it  is  just  as  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  army  of  Italy 
had  a  similar  knowledge.  Of  course,  their  command  of  the 
language  could  not  have  been  idiomatic,  and  was  confined  to 
the  terse  vocabulary  of  camp  life  and  to  military  terms.  Prob- 
ably they  could  comprehend  Hannibal's  speech  with  a  fair 
amount  of  intelligence,  since  he  recounted  their  former  suc- 
cesses in  Italy.  If  they  could  not  follow  everything  he  said, 
the  personality  and  presence  of  Hannibal  himself  was  enough 
to  infuse  them  with  courage;  for  the  most  remarkable  ability 
was  required  to  make  a  homogeneous  army  out  of  so  many  diverse 
elements.  In  very  many  cases,  the  address  of  a  commander  to 


°Liv.  XXX,  33;  cf.  also  Liv.  XXX,  34;  Polyb.  XV,  12. 

62  Livy  does  not  differentiate  the  Carthaginians  who  had  been  in  service 
at  home  from  Hannibal's  veteran  army  which  had  served  in  Italy. 
Polybius,  XI,  19  tells  us  that  his  army  was  composed  of  Libyans,  Iberians, 
Ligurians,  Celts,  Phoenicians,  Italians,  and  Greeks,  who  had  nothing  in 
common  with  one  another.  Polybius  XV,  n  makes  the  distinction  of 
ol  Kapx^Sovtoc  and  of  ££  'lTaX(ai;  ^xovre<;.  In  the  same  chapter,  he 
says:  "xapTjYyecXe  8£  TOU<;  !8(ou<;  arparuoTai;  £xaarov  xapaxaXelv, 
povrai;  TT]V  ^XxIBa-rij?  vfou]<;  iq>'  4au-cov  xal  Ta<;  [ie6'  autou 
Buvct|xei<;-  TO!?  8£  Kapx*]8ov(oi<;  £x£XEuaeTo5(;  tJYounevou<;  TO: 
xepl  texvtov  xal  Yuvatxwv  I£apt0[xeca0ai  xal  TtOlvac  xpo  6<p6aX;xo)v,  lav 
5XXa)<;  xto<;  dx^fj  Ta  rrj?  (xdx^<;.  OUTOC  niv  ouv  ouTwq  Ixotouv  TO  xapay- 

'Avvt^ag   8£  TOLK;  [xe0'  OCUTOU 
xal  xapsxaXec  Sea  xXeiivwv  liVTjaOijvac 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  29 

his  army  is  simply  a  convention  of  which  the  historian  avails 
himself  for  rhetorical  effect.  But,  in  view  of  the  great 
importance  of  the  final  struggle  at  Zama  and  of  the  consciousness 
of  it  by  both  sides,  we  may  well  suppose  that  both  the  Roman 
and  the  Carthaginian  generals  addressed  their  men  in  some 
way. 

One  would  naturally  assume  that  Hannibal's  foreign  troops 
at  the  end  of  his  Italian  campaigns  had  a  better  command  of 
Punic  than  did  the  non-Carthaginian  and  non-African  forces 
with  which  he  crossed  the  Alps.  Yet  Polybius"  states  that  the 
Carthaginian  army  was  successfully  addressed  by  an  inter- 
preter, apparently  a  single  interpreter,  even  before  it  crossed 
the  Rhone.  Magilus  and  other  Gallic  chiefs  had  come  from  the 
valley  of  the  Po.  A  meeting  of  the  soldiers  was  summoned  and 
an  interpreter  declared  to  the  whole  army  the  resolutions  of  the 
friendly  Gauls.  Although  the  historian  does  not  mention  in 
what  language  the  address  was  made,  it  was  presumably  Punic, 
the  official  language  of  Hannibal.  Probably  that  was  the  com- 
mon language  known  to  most  of  the  soldiers,  and  if  the  inter- 
preter spoke  Carthaginian,  those  that  understood  the  message 
could  make  it  known  to  such  of  their  fellow-soldiers  as  had  no 
acquaintance  with  that  tongue.  It  is,  of  course,  possible  that 
the  interpreter  spoke  in  several  languages,  although  Polybius 
makes  no  statement  to  that  effect. 

"Polyb.  Ill,  44. 


CHAPTER  VI 

INTERPRETERS  OF  GREEK  AND  BARBARIAN 
LANGUAGES 

1.  GREEK  AND  EGYPTIAN 

Herodotus  does  not  inform  us  whether  he  knew  the  languages 
of  any  of  the  countries  in  which  he  traveled.  He  does,  however, 
tell  us  that  he  used  an  interpreter  in  Egypt.  Referring64  to 
the  inscription  on  the  pyramid  of  Cheops  in  Egyptian  charac- 
ters, which  recorded  the  quantity  of  radishes,  onions,  and  garlic 
consumed  by  the  laborers  who  constructed  it,  he  pretends  to 
remember  perfectly  well  that  the  interpreter,  who  read  the  writ- 
ing to  him,  said  that  the  money  expended  in  this  way  was  six- 
teen hundred  talents  of  silver. 

Centuries  later,  an  interpreter66  was  used  by  Germanicus, 
who  had  gone  to  Egypt  to  study  archaeology,  and  had  one  of 
the  older  men  of  the  priesthood  interpret  the  Egyptian  charac- 
ters on  the  monuments  at  The,bes.  It  is  very  unlikely  that 
the  priest  spoke  Latin  to  him.  In  those  days  every  educated 
Roman  spoke  Greek,  and  it  is  most  probable  that  the  priest 
interpreted  the  Egyptian  into  Greek. 

2.  GREEK  AND  SEMITIC 

If  a  government  forbids  the  study  of  a  certain  foreign  language, 
its  citizens  are  obliged  to  use  interpreters  of  that  tongue.66 
The  Carthaginians  were  waging  war  in  Sicily  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Hanno.  His  enemy  Suniatus,  at  that  time  the  most 
powerful  of  the  Carthaginians,  out  of  hatred  for  him  notified 
Dionysius,  the  tyrant  at  Syracuse,  in  Greek  letters67  of  the 


MHdt.  II,  125. 

"Tac.  Ann.  II,  60. 

"Just.  XX,  5,  11-13. 

67  It  cannot  be  determined  from  the  context  whether  the  letter  was  composed 
in  the  Greek  language  or — a  most  remote  possibility — in  the  Punic  written 
in  Greek  characters. 

30 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  31 

approach  of  Hanno's  army  and  of  the  slowness  of  the  general. 
The  letters  were  intercepted  and  the  author  convicted  of  treason, 
while  the  senate  decreed68  that  no  Carthaginian  thereafter 
should  study  Greek  letters  or  the  Greek  language,  in  order 
that  he  might  not  be  able  to  hold  either  converse  or  correspon- 
dence with  the  enemy  without  the  use  of  an  interpreter. 

As  we  pass  on  to  Roman  history,  our  attention  is  called  to 
the  use  of  an  interpreter  by  Antony  in  his  Parthian  expedition.69 
As  he  was  going  to  leave  the  country  by  the  route  through  the 
plains,  a  certain  Mithridates  came  from  the  enemy's  camp 
and  desired  to  be  permitted  to  speak  with  some  person  who 
understood  the  Syrian70  or  the  Parthian  tongue.  Alexander 
of  Antioch,  a  close  friend  of  Antony,  went  out  to  him,  and  after 
the  Parthian  had  introduced  himself,  he  warned  Alexander 
against  the  route  through  the  plains,  saying  that  if  the  Romans 
took  the  mountain  roads,  they  would  have  thirst  and  toil  to 
contend  with  as  usual ;  but  that  if  Antony  should  proceed  through 
the  low  lands,  he  must  expect  the  fate  of  Crassus.  Later  Mith- 
ridates came  again  and  Alexander  was  sent  to  him  a  second  time. 

We  do  not  have  much  testimony  to  the  study  of  Latin  by 
Greeks,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  Alexander  did  not  know 
Latin.  Of  course,  Antony  was  thoroughly  conversant  with 
Greek  and  he  surely  would  not  object  to  receiving  his  friend's 
report  directly  through  that  language.  How  Mithridates  made 
his  wishes  known  in  the  first  place,  does  not  worry  Plutarch. 
Possibly  he  knew  enough  Greek  for  that  simple  purpose ;  but  that 
is  mere  speculation,  and  we  can  only  say  that  either  Aramaic  or 
Parthian  was  interpreted  into  Greek.  Since  Alexander  came 
from  Antioch,  it  seems  more  probable  that  Aramaic  was  their 
medium  of  conversation.  If,  however,  they  spoke  Parthian, 
which  was  a  dialect  of  Persian,  this  example  should  be  cited  under 
the  fourth  division  of  this  chapter. 


88  The  law  seems  to  have  been  passed  when  feeling  ran  very  high  against 
the  Greek  language,  and  to  have  fallen  into  disuse  in  later  times.  The  great- 
est of  the  Carthaginians,  Hannibal,  wrote  in  Greek.  Cf.  Nepos,  Hann.  13, 

2. 

69  Plut.  Anton.  46,  2;  48,  i. 

70  Presumably  Aramaic  is  meant,  which  at  this  time  was  the  lingua  franca 
in  Western  Asia.     The  fact  that  Alexander  came  from  Antioch,  where  many 
Jews  dwelt,  seems  to  justify  an  assumption  that  he  spoke  Aramaic. 


32    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

One  would  not  expect  many  Greeks  and  Romans  to  study 
any  of  the  Semitic  dialects.  After  the  Hellenization  of  the 
Orient,  Greek  was  fairly  well  diffused  among  the  Jews,  and 
the  great  historian  Josephus  himself  acted  as  an  interpreter. 
After  Vespasian  had  taken  him  prisoner,  he  at  first  put  him  in 
bonds,  but  considering  him  a  prophet,  he  later  released  him 
at  the  suggestion  of  Titus  and  loaded  him  with  presents.  Jo- 
sephus appears  to  have  been  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  Flavians, 
and  was  with  Titus  at  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  In  this  connexion, 
he  performed  his  services  as  an  agent  between  his  compatriots 
and  Titus,  and  asserts  that  he  was  the  only  one71  in  the  Roman 
camp  who  understood  the  news  which  the  deserters  brought 
during  the  siege  of  Jerusalem.  It  seems  most  probable  that 
he  spoke  Greek72  to  the  Roman  general,  although  he  nowhere 
intimates  what  language  he  used.  He  is  silent  about  his  knowl- 
edge of  Latin,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  he  knew  very  much 
of  that  tongue  at  this  period  of  his  life. 

Titus,  knowing  that  exhortations  are  frequently  more  effec- 
tual than  arms,  tried  to  persuade  the  Jews  to  surrender  their 
city  in  order  to  save  themselves.73  He  sent  Josephus  to  address 
them  in  their  own  vernacular,  i.  e.,  in  Aramaic;  for  he  imagined 
that  they  might  yield  to  the  persuasion  of  a  fellow-countryman. 
During  the  progress  of  the  siege,  Titus  gave  orders  to  demolish 
the  foundations  of  the  citadel  Antonia74  and  again  had  Josephus 
exhort  the  Jews.  On  this  occasion,  the  historian  took  his  stand 
in  a  place  from  which  he  might  be  heard,  not  only  by  John  (the 
leader  of  the  defenders),  but  by  many  more  of  the  Jews,  and 
then  declared  to  them  in  the  "Hebrew"  language,75  what 
Titus  had  instructed  him  to  say. 

As  the  siege  continued,  the  Jews  rose  in  sedition  and  began 
to  kill  one  another.  Titus  was  deeply  affected  at  this  state  of 


71  Joseph.  Contra  Apionem  I,  9. 

72  Joseph.  Antiq.  lud.  XX,  II  (9),  2.    Josephus  here  tells  us  that  he  under- 
stood the  elements  of  Greek  and  that  he  had  taken  a  great  deal   of   pains  to 
obtain  the  learning  of  that  people.     Still  he  could  not  pronounce  their  lang- 
uage with  exactness,  since  he  had  been  accustomed  to  speak  his  own  tongue 
for  so  long  a  time  before  learning  Greek. 

"Joseph.  Bell.  lud.  V,  9,  2. 
"Joseph.  Bell.  lud.  VI,  2,  i. 
76  Of  course  the  Aramaic,  despite  the  wording  of  Josephus. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients    33 

affairs  and  reproached  John  and  his  party.  Again  he  had  re- 
course to  his  interpreter  Josephus,76  but  the  robbers  and  the 
tyrant  within  the  city  thought  that  these  exhortations  proceeded 
from  Titus'  fear.  The  beleaguered  city,  however,  could  not 
withstand  indefinitely  the  prowess  of  the  Romans,  and  upon 
the  Jews'  application  for  mercy,  Titus  made  a  speech  to  the 
enemy77  through  an  interpreter.  The  historian  does  not 
mention  his  name,  but  we  can  hardly  imagine  him  to  have 
been  any  other  than  Josephus. 

3.  GREEK  AND  INDIAN 

Custom  is  king  over  all,  although  it  may  be  totally  different 
among  various  peoples.  Herodotus78  relates  the  story  that 
Darius  impressed  this  upon  some  Greeks,  and  that  he  had  to 
use  interpreters  on  the  occasion.  After  he  had  succeeded  to 
the  throne,  he  called  into  his  presence  certain  Greeks  who  were 
at  hand  and  asked  what  he  must  pay  them  to  induce  them  to 
eat  the  bodies  of  their  dead  fathers.  They  answered  that  no 
sum  would  persuade  them  to  such  an  act.  He  then  sent  for 
certain  Indians  of  the  race  called  Callatians,  men  who  eat  their 
fathers,  and  asked  them  while  the  Greeks  stood  by  and  knew 
by  the  aid  of  an  interpreter  all  that  was  said,  what  he  should 
give  them  to  burn  the  bodies  of  their  fathers  at  their  decease. 
The  Indians  exclaimed  aloud  and  begged  him  not  to  speak  of 
such  a  thing. 

From  this  amusing  incident  of  Darius,  let  us  turn  to  the  com- 
munication of  Alexander  with  the  Indians.  When  one  of  them, 
Hephaestion,  approached  Alexander  the  Great  with  the  inten- 
tion of  surrendering  all  his  forces,  Alexander,  thinking  that  he 
came  as  an  enemy,  prepared  for  battle.  When  the  Indian 
saw  the  error  of  the  Macedonians,  he  ordered  the  rest  to  halt 
and  himself  rode  rapidly  toward  Alexander,  who  also  advanced 
to  meet  him.  From  the  expression  on  the  faces  of  both,  it  could 
be  seen  that  they  were  friends,  but  that  they  could  not  make 


Te  Joseph.  Bell.  lud.  VI,  2,  5. 
"  Joseph.  Bell.  lud.  VI,  6,  2. 
78  Hdt.  Ill,  38. 


34    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

themselves  understood  without  an  interpreter.  When  one  was 
brought,  the  barbarian  addressed  Alexander.79 

In  his  dealings  with  the  Indian  philosophers,  Alexander 
also  used  intermediaries.  Some  of  the  sages  are  said80  to  have 
been  caught  by  the  Macedonian,  as  they  were  walking  in  the 
open  meadow  where  they  were  accustomed  to  spend  their  time. 
At  the  sight  of  him  and  his  army,  they  did  nothing  else  but 
stamp  with  their  feet  on  the  earth.  When  he  asked  them  by 
means  of  interpreters  what  their  actions  meant,  they  replied. 
"King  Alexander,  every  man  possesses  as  much  of  the  earth 
as  this  upon  which  we  have  stepped ;  but  you  being  only  a  man 
like  the  rest  of  us,  except  in  being  meddlesome  and  arrogant, 
have  come  over  so  great  a  part  of  the  earth  from  your  own  land, 
both  having  trouble  yourself  and  giving  it  to  others.  And 
yet  you  also  will  soon  die,  and  possess  only  so  much  of  the  soil 
as  is  sufficient  for  burying  your  body." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  the  account  of  Alexander's  dealings 
with  these  wise  men  of  India,  we  find  a  reference81  to  a  series 
of  interpreters.  He  had  sent  Onesicritus  to  confer  with  the 
ascetics,  and  one  of  them,  Mandanis  by  name,  addressed  One- 
sicritus. The  Indian  said  that  he  was  entitled  to  indulgence, 
if  he  was  not  able  to  demostrate  the  utility  of  philosophy  when 
conversing  by  means  of  three  interpreters,  who  except  the  language 
knew  no  more  than  the  vulgar.  To  attempt  it,  he  maintained, 
was  to  expect  water  to  flow  pure  through  mud. 

Yet  it  appears  that  experts  were  not  always  available  to 
render  Indian  (at  least  some  dialects  of  it)  into  Greek.  A 
certain  Indian82  was  brought  to  King  Euergetes  II  by  the 
guards  of  the  Arabian  Sea,  who  said  they  found  him  alone  and 
half  dead  in  a  ship.  Who  he  was  and  from  where  he  came, 
they  did  not  know,  as  they  did  not  understand  his  language. 
The  king  gave  him  in  charge  of  several  men  to  be  taught  Greek. 
When  he  knew  the  language,  he  narrated  how  he  had  sailed  from 
India,  taken  the  wrong  course,  and  lost  his  ship-mates  through 
hunger. 


79  Curt.  VIII,  12,  9. 
80Arrian,  Anab.  VII,  I. 
81  Strabo,  XV,  i,  64,  C  716. 
^Strabo,  II,  3,  4,  C  98. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients    35 

5.  GREEK  AND  PERSIAN 

An  instance  of  making  Persian  intelligible  to  Greeks  is  fur- 
nished by  Aristophanes.83  Pseudartabas  comes  into  the 
Athenian  ecclesia,  speaking  what  the  author  represents  to  be 
Persian.  The  herald  says,  "Do  you  understand  what  he  says?" 
Dicaeopolis  replies,)  "No,  by  Apollo,  I  don't!"  The  herald, 
pretending  to  interpret,  says,  "He  declares  that  the  king  will 
send  us  gold."  Then  ceasing  to  speak  Persian,  Pseudartabas 
utters  a  broken  Greek. 

To  pass  from  the  drama  to  the  realm  of  history,  it  is  related 
by  Herodotus84  that  Syloson,  an  exile  from  Samos,  gave,  with- 
out accepting  pay,  his  cloak  to  Darius  while  the  latter  was 
serving  in  Cambyses'  body  guard  in  Egypt.  When  Darius 
later  became  emperor,  Syloson  went  to  Susa,  and  upon  his 
arrival,  sat  at  the  vestibule  of  the  palace  and  said  that  he  was 
a  benefactor  of  the  King.  The  gate-keeper,  having  heard  this, 
reported  the  matter  to  his  royal  master.  When  Syloson  was 
admitted  to  Darius'  presence,  the  interpreters  asked  him  who 
he  was  and  what  he  had  done  that  he  should  call  himself  a  bene- 
factor of  the  King.  It  appears  therefore  that  the  gate-keeper 
knew  Greek;  for  he  had  no  difficulty  in  reporting  the  message. 
No  doubt  a  man  in  his  position  was  required  to  know  several 
languages. 

In  one  case,  we  find  that  a  man  suffered  death  for  translating 
Persian  into  Greek.85  Themistocles  was  commended  for 
arresting  the  interpreter  attached  to  the  King  of  Persia's  am- 
bassadors, who  had  been  sent  to  Greece  to  demand  earth  and 
water.  By  a  decree  of  the  people,  the  interpreter  was  put  to 
death  for  having  presumed  to  make  use  of  the  Greek  language 
to  voice  the  demands  of  the  barbarians. 

Yet  the  Athenian  himself  later  became  a  suppliant86  of  the 
Great  King.  He  was  brought  before  Xerxes,  and  after  he  had 
prostrated  himself,  stood  silent.  The  King  then  commanded 


**Arist.  Acharnians  100  sqq. 

MHdt.  Ill,  139-140. 

85  Plut.  Them.  6,  3. 

88  Plut.  Moralia,  Regunt  et  imperatorum  apophthegmala  185,  Them.  15-16; 
Plut.  Them.  28,  I  sqq.;  29,  1-3;  Nepos,  Them.  10;  Thuc.  I,  137-138;  Val. 
Max.  VIII,  7,  Ext.  15;  Diod.  Sic.  XI,  57. 


36    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

his  linguists  to  ask  who  he  was.  An  interpreter  accordingly 
put  the  question  and  Themistocles  in  reply  gave  his  name  and 
said  that  he  was  an  exile  and  was  persecuted  by  the  Greeks. 
The  next  morning  Xerxes  called  the  Athenian  before  him  and 
in  encouraging  him,  bade  him  declare  freely  whatever  he  had 
to  propose  concerning  Greece.  Themistocles  replied  that  a 
man's  discourse  was  like  a  piece  of  tapestry,  which,  when  spread 
open,  displays  its  figures,  but  when  folded  up,  hides  them  from 
view.  Therefore  he  requested  time  until  he  might  learn  the 
Persian  language  and  be  able  to  explain  himself  without  any 
intermediary.  The  King  was  delighted  with  the  comparison 
and  bade  him  take  what  time  he  pleased.  Themistocles  desired 
a  year,  and  within  this  time  learned  the  language  sufficiently 
well  for  his  purpose. 

We  are  informed  that  some  interpreters  could  not  only  speak, 
but  also  read  the  Persian  language.  Thucydides  narrates87 
that,  at  Eion  on  the  Strymon,  Aristides  arrested  Artaphernes, 
a  Persian  who  was  on  his  way  from  the  King  to  the  Lacedae- 
monians. When  he  had  been  conveyed  to  Athens,  the  dis- 
patches which  he  carried  were  translated  out  of  the  Assyrian 
character88  and  read. 


87  Thuc.  IV,  50. 

88  It  appears  that  the  Greeks  used  the  expression  'Aaaupca 

loosely  in  referring  to  Persian  writing.  Cf.  on  Thuc.  IV,  50,  J.  Classen, 
Thukydides,  dritte  Auflage  bearbeitet  von  J.  Steup,  Berlin,  1900:  .... 
"und  darum  sind  die  'Aacupca  Ypawztz  (wie  Herod.  4,  87)  sowohl  auf 
Sprache  wie  auf  Schrift  zu  beziehen.  Der  Ausdruck  ' Aaaupcoc  yp.  aber  scheint 
von  allem  in  Keilschrift  Geschriebenen  gebraucht  worden  zu  sein,  so  dass 
wir  wohl  annehmen  konnen,  dass  der  Brief  in  persischer  Sprache  geschrieben 
war."  On  Hdt.  IV,  87,  cf.  Rawlinson's  note:  "Herodotus,  however,  is  no 
doubt  inaccurate  when  he  speaks  here  of  Assyrian  letters.  The  language 
and  character  used  in  the  inscription  would  be  the  Persian,  and  not  the  As- 
syrian. But  as  moderns,  till  recently,  have  been  accustomed  to  speak  of 
'the  cuneiform  language,'  not  distinguishing  between  one  sort  of  cuneiform 
writing  and  another,  so  Herodotus  appears  to  have  been  ignorant  that  in  the 
arrow-headed  inscriptions  which  he  saw,  both  the  letters  and  the  languages 
varied.  There  are,  in  point  of  fact,  at  least  six  different  types  of  cuneiform 
writing,  viz.  the  old  Scythic  Babylonian,  the  Susianian,  the  Armenian,  the 
Scythic  of  the  trilingual  tablets,  the  Assyrian,  and  the  Achaemenian  Persian. 
Of  these  the  first  four  are  to  a  certain  extent  connected;  but  the  Assyrian  and 
Achaemenian  Persian  differ  totally  from  them  and  from  each  other. " 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  37 

Thanks  to  the  fascinating  narrative  of  Xenophon,  many 
interesting  examples  of  interpreters  have  been  recorded.  When 
Epyaxa89  visited  Cyrus  the  Younger,  he  wished  to  show  her 
his  Greek  mercenaries.  So  he  sent  Pigres,  his  interpreter, 
to  order  them  to  advance  as  for  an  attack.  Yet  he  did  not 
always  employ  this  man;  for  we  read  in  Anab.  I,  4,  16,  that  he 
sent  Glus  to  express  his  pleasure  to  Menon  and  his  men  who 
had  crossed  the  Euphrates,  while  the  rest  of  the  mercenaries, 
being  angry  at  Cyrus,  refused  to  advance.  Possibly  Cyrus 
knew  Greek;  for  in  Anab.  I,  7,  2,  we  find  that  he  harangued  and 
encouraged  the  Greek  generals  and  captains.  Here  Xenophon 
does  not  say  anything  about  an  interpreter,  unless  he  assumes 
as  a  matter  of  course  that  one  was  employed  and  so  proceeds 
without  making  mention  of  the  fact.  On  account  of  the  import- 
ance of  the  Greeks  in  Asia  Minor  and  through  his  close  relations 
with  them,  it  seems  probable  that  a  man  of  Cyrus'  station  knew 
their  language.  If  he  did  not,  we  must  assume  that  Clearchus 
knew  some  Persian.  For  in  Anab.  I,  8,  12, 90  we  are  informed  that 
before  the  battle  of  Cunaxa  Cyrus  passed  the  army  in  review, 
accompanied  by  Pigres,.  his  interpreter,  and  three  or  four  others. 
Yet  Xenophon  expressly  states  that  Cyrus  shouted  to  Clearchus 
and  ordered  him  to  attack  the  Persian  center.  Even  if  Cyrus 
could  not  make  a  speech  in  Greek  to  encourage  his  mercenary 
officers,  probably  his  command  of  the  language  was  sufficient 
to  enable  him  to  use  it  in  the  army.  We  might  perhaps  assume 
that  he  issued  his  order  to  Clearchus  in  Persian.  Although 
neither  alternative  can  be  proved,91  it  seems  more  likely  that 
he  spoke  Greek  to  his  Hellenic  captain.  But  he  may  have 
used  his  interpreter  in  conversing  with  Greeks,  where  his  po- 


89Xen.  Anab.  I,  2,  17. 

.  Anab.  I,  8,  12:  y.od  Iv  TOUT(p  Kupo<;irapsXauvtoV<x6T&<;  auvIItypTQTt 
xal  aXXot?  Tptalv  rj  TeiTapat  T^>  KXsapx<p  ^6a  <2ysiv  T& 
OCTOC  [xeaov  T&  TWV  xoXs^lwv,  811  i-x.s.1  ^aatXsui;  sit). 
91  At  the  trial  of  Orontas,  Xen.  Anab.  I,  6,  4  sqq.,  Cyrus  summoned  into 
his  tent  seven  Persian  nobles  and  Clearchus.  No  one  else  is  mentioned  as 
having  been  present.  The  trial  of  course  was  conducted  in  Persian.  If 
Clearchus  did  not  understand  Persian,  either  Cyrus  or  one  of  the  nobles  had 
to  interpret  the  proceedings  for  him.  The  Greek,  at  Cyrus'  request,  was 
the  first  to  pronounce  his  verdict,  but  no  mention  is  made  of  the  language 
that  Clearchus  spoke  or  of  that  in  which  he  was  addressed. 


38    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

sition  as  satrap  required  him  to  speak  Persian  or  where  the  sub- 
ject under  discussion  exceeded  his  knowledge  of  the  Hellenic 
tongue. 

Since  Cyrus  had  both  Greeks  and  Persians  in  his  army,  it 
was  necessary  to  make  announcements  in  both  languages.  As 
the  King's  army  was  approaching  that  of  Cyrus,92  Pategyas,  a 
Persian,  a  trusty  member  of  Cyrus'  personal  staff,  came  gallop- 
ing up  at  full  speed  on  his  horse,  which  was  bathed  in  sweat, 
and  to  every  one  he  met  he  shouted  in  Greek  and  in  Persian 
that  the  King  was  advancing  with  a  large  army,  ready  for  battle. 

After  the  battle  of  Cunaxa,  Tissaphernes  came  from  the  King, 
and  when  the  Greek  generals  had  met  him,  he  began  the  dis- 
course, speaking  through  an  interpreter.920  He  said  he  wished 
to  lead  them  in  safety  to  their  country,  and  considered  it  a 
privilege  by  which  he  would  win  gratitude  from  the  Ten  Thousand 
and  from  all  Hellas.  Since  the  King  wished  to  know  why  they 
had  marched  against  him,  Tissaphernes  counseled  them  to  give 
a  moderate  answer  so  that  it  would  be  easier  for  him  to  carry 
out  his  design  if  he  should  obtain  from  the  King  any  favors 
in  behalf  of  the  Greeks.  The  Hellenes  retired  and  took  counsel, 
and  when  they  gave  their  reply,  Clearchus  was  their  spokesman. 
Xenophon  does  not  inform  us  whether  the  Greek  employed  an 
interpreter  or  not.  It  is  possible  that  Tissaphernes  had  a  knowl- 
edge of  colloquial  Greek  merely,  and  used  the  intermediary 
because  he  represented  the  King  and  so  felt  that  it  was  incum- 
bent upon  him  to  speak  the  official  language  as  a  matter  of  dignity. 
Or  he  may  have  understood  Greek  without  being  able  to  speak 
it  very  fluently.  In  either  case,  he  could  have  understood  the 
remarks  of  Clearchus  without  the  services  of  a  translator.  Pos- 
sibly Tissaphernes  knew  no  Greek  and  Xenophon  simply  over- 


«Xen.  Anab.  I,  8,  I. 

920  Xen.  Anab.  II,  3,  17.  We  do  not  know  whether  this  intermediary 
was  a  Persian  or  a  Greek.  Tissaphernes,  however,  had  one  Greek,  Phalinus, 
on  his  staff  and  held  him  in  great  esteem.  The  day  after  the  battle  at  Cunaxa, 
messengers  (Xen.  Anab.  II,  I,  7  sqq.)  came  from  the  King  and  Tissaphernes, 
demanding  the  unconditional  surrender  of  the  Ten  Thousand.  Phalinus 
was  the  only  one  among  these  heralds  that  was  a  Greek.  Probably  he  de- 
livered the  message;  at  any  rate,  he  had  a  long  conversation  with  the  Hellenic 
officers  after  the  King's  wishes  were  made  known. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  39 

looks  the  use  of  the  interpreter  who  translated  the  speech  of 
the  Greek.  Later  on,  at  the  request  of  Clearchus,  they  had 
a  conference;926  here  no  intermediary  is  mentioned.  If  Tissa- 
phernes  knew  Greek  and  no  interpreter  was  used,  he  spoke  that 
tongue  on  this  occasion  because  Clearchus  had  made  the  over- 
tures. In  this  case,  he  was  not  a  legate  from  Artaxerxes,  and 
so  could  be  less  formal.  Possibly  here  also  Tissaphernes,  whether 
he  could  speak  Greek  or  not,  used  an  intermediary,  though 
Xenophon  fails  to  mention  the  fact.  It  is  hardly  likely  that 
Clearchus  spoke  Persian  at  either  conference. 

On  their  retreat,  the  Ten  Thousand  used  interpreters  quite 
frequently;  but  that  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  they  were 
accompanied  by  professionals  who  were  able  to  speak  the  va- 
rious languages  and  dialects  of  Persia  which  were  encountered. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  Persian  rule,  no  doubt  Persian  was 
known  by  some  people  in  the  provinces,  and  whatever  tongue 
the  people  of  a  district  spoke,  an  interpreter  speaking  standard 
Persian  might  somehow  make  himself  understood.  We  should 
not  expect  Xenophon  to  have  an  interpreter  able  to  speak  the 
dialect  of  the  Carduchians;  and  yet  through  an  interpreter  he 
negotiated"  with  them  for  a  truce  and  demanded  the  dead. 
The  language  of  the  modern  Kurds  is  closely  allied  to  Persian, 
and  if  we  are  right  in  assuming  the  KapSouxot  to  be  the  ancestors 
of  the  Kurds,  possibly  in  those  days  an  interpreter,  speaking 
Persian,  could  manage  to  communicate  with  that  people. 

As  they  passed  through  Western  Armenia94,  Tiribazus,  the 
lieutenant-governor  and  friend  of  the  King,  rode  up  to  the 
Hellenes  with  a  body  of  cavalry  and,  sending  forth  an  inter- 
preter, stated  that  he  desired  to  speak  with  their  commanders. 
The  generals  resolved  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say;  and  advancing 
on  their  side  to  within  speaking  distance,  they  demanded  what 
he  wanted.  He  replied  that  he  wished  to  make  a  treaty  with 
them  in  accordance  with  which  he  on  his  side  would  abstain 
from  injuring  the  Greeks,  if  the  latter  would  not  burn  his  houses, 
but  merely  take  such  provisions  as  they  needed.  The  proposal 
satisfied  the  generals  and  a  treaty  was  made  on  the  terms  sug- 
gested. 


92     Xen.  Anab.  II,  5,  I  sqq. 
w  Xen.  Anab.  IV,  2,  18. 
94  Xen.  Anab.  IV,  4,  5. 


40   The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

In  Armenia  one  day  about  dusk,  Cheirisophus  reached  a 
village98  and  met  some  women  and  girls  who  had  come  from 
the  village  to  fetch  water  at  the  fountain  outside  the  wall. 
These  asked  the  Greeks  who  they  were.  The  interpreter  said 
in  Persian  that  they  were  on  their  way  from  the  King  to  the 
satrap.  The  women  replied  that  the  satrap  was  not  at  home, 
but  was  a  parasang  farther  on.  Xenophon  does  not  say  that 
the  women  spoke  Persian,  although  he  tells  us  that  the  inter- 
preter did  so.  Even  if  the  Armenian  women  did  not  speak  a 
pure  Persian — and  it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  they  did — the 
interpreter  had  no  difficulty  in  conversing  with  them. 

Later,  in  the  course  of  their  march  in  Armenia,96  they  were 
hospitably  received.  When  Xenophon  and  the  chief  of  one 
of  the  villages  came  to  the  division  of  Cheirisophus,  they  found 
the  men  feasting  in  their  quarters,  garlanded  with  wisps  of  hay, 
while  Armenian  boys  in  barbaric  costumes  were  playing  the 
part  of  waiters.  The  Greeks  had  to  point  out  to  the  boys, 
just  as  to  deaf  and  dumb  persons,  what  they  were  to  do.  As 
soon  as  Cheirisophus  and  Xenophon  had  greeted  each  other, 
they  obtained  information  from  the  village  chieftain  by  means 
of  their  interpreter,  who  spoke  the  Persian  language.  Possibly 
the  former,  being  a  man  of  some  consequence,  may  have  learned 
Persian,  though  he  was  an  Armenian. 

At  the  time  of  Alexander,  some  of  the  Persians  of  importance 
were  ignorant  of  Greek  and  had  to  use  interpreters.  Quintus 
Curtius97  gives  an  instance  of  this  in  relating  the  incident  of 
Patron,  the  commander  of  the  Greeks  in  the  service  of  Darius. 
For  this  man,  foreseeing  the  design  of  Bessus  to  assassinate  the 
King,  followed  Darius'  chariot  and  watched  for  an  opportunity 
to  address  him.  Bessus,  mistrusting  him,  kept  close  to  the  char- 
iot. But  Patron,  having  waited  for  a  considerable  time,  and 
hesitating  between  fidelity  and  fear,  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  the 
King,  who  eventually  sent  one  of  his  eunuchs  to  inquire  if  he 
had  anything  to  say.  He  replied  that  he  had,  but  that  he 
wished  to  speak  without  a  witness.  So  he  was  ordered  to  draw 
near,  and  as  Darius  had  no  slight  knowledge  of  Greek,  Patron 

•5Xen.  Andb.  IV,  5,  10. 
»«  Xen.  Anab.  IV,  5,  33-34. 
"Curt.  V,  II,  I  sqq. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  41 

spoke  without  an  interpreter,  asking  that  he,  with  his  Greeks, 
might  form  the  royal  body-guard.  Although  Bessus  was  ig- 
norant of  the  Greek  language,  he  was  afraid  that  Patron  had 
informed  against  him,  but  he  was  relieved  of  his  anxiety  when 
the  conversation  was  related  to  him  by  an  interpreter. 

The  use  of  interpreters  by  Alexander  in  his  invasion  of  Asia 
is  mentioned  in  the  ancient  authors.  For  example,  the  mother 
and  wife  of  Darius  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  Alexander  and 
were  falsely  informed  that  Darius  had  been  killed.  There- 
upon with  the  other  captives  of  the  nobility,  they  raised  great 
cries  and  lamentations  and  disturbed  the  Macedonians  at  their 
banquet.  On  discovering  the  cause  of  their  grief,98  Alexander 
sent  Mithrenes,  who  had  surrendered  Sardis  and  was  skilled 
in  the  Persian  language,  to  console  them. 

Alexander  also  had  Asiatic  troops"  in  his  service  and  had  to 
address  them  by  means  of  an  interpreter.  This  man  doubtless 
spoke  Persian  to  the  soldiers,  as  that  was  of  course  the  language 
known  to  the  largest  number. 

In  his  expeditions  into  some  of  the  remote  provinces  of  the 
Great  King,  Alexander  also  had  to  use  special  linguists,  although 
our  authorities  do  not  always  clearly  state  whether  these  spoke 
Persian  or  the  dialect  of  the  country.  During  his  invasion  of 
the  territory  of  the  Mardians,  a  land  bordering  upon  Hyrcania, 
his  horse  Bucephalus  was  stolen  by  the  natives.  Accordingly 
being  transported  with  rage  and  grief  beyond  what  was  seemly, 
he  ordered  search  to  be  made  for  his  steed  and  had  it 
announced100  by  an  interpreter  that  if  the  Mardians  did  not 
restore  the  charger,  not  one  of  them  should  live.  This  declara- 
tion so  terrified  them  that  they  not  only  restored  the  horse, 
but  also  gave  him  presents.  The  use  of  the  interpreter  implies 
that  the  proclamation  was  not  made  in  Greek.  Probably  the 
people  spoke  a  dialect  closely  resembling  Persian,  and  under 


98  Curt.  Ill,  12,  6. 

"Curt.  X,  3,  s-<>. 

100  Curt.  VI,  5,  19;  Diod.  Sic.  XVII,  76,  "8t(i  Ik  TWV  &[AO<J>a>vtoV  TO!? 
lyX^P^01?  KTJptaTeiv. "  It  is  very  probable  that  Diodorus  Siculus  refers  to 
the  dialect  of  the  region,  unless  he  is  speaking  loosely  and  means  Persian. 
Doubtless  an  interpreter  who  spoke  Persian  with  colloquial  and  provincial 
elements,  had  no  difficulty  in  being  underscood  in  Margiana. 


42    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

the  influence  of  Persia's  power,  it  is  probable  that  a  good  many 
of  the  Mardians  had  an  acquaintance  with  Persian.  If  this 
was  the  case,  an  interpreter  making  Alexander's  proclamation 
in  the  Persian  tongue,  had  no  difficulty  in  being  understood. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  very  probable  the  announcement  was 
made  in  the  dialect  of  the  country. 

Again  he  used  interpreters  in  Sogdiana.  Among  the  cap- 
tives101 that  were  taken  in  this  country  were  thirty  of  the  high- 
est nobility,  who  had  remarkable  strength  of  body.  As  these 
were  led  before  the  king  and  informed  in  their  own  language 
that  they  were  condemned  to  death  by  his  order,  they  began 
to  sing  a  song  of  a  joyous  strain  and  with  dances  and  wanton 
motions  of  their  body  to  express  a  cheerfulness  of  mind.  Alex- 
ander, struck  by  their  conduct,  asked  them  how  they  could  be 
so  joyful  when  they  had  death  before  their  eyes.  They  replied 
that  if  they  had  been  killed  by  any  other,  they  would  have  died 
in  sorrow;  but  now  since  they  were  to  be  restored  to  their  an- 
cestors by  so  great  a  king,  the  conqueror  of  all  nations,  they 
celebrated  with  these  songs  an  honorable  death — a  death  which 
brave  men  would  seek  most  eagerly.  On  their  pledge  of  fidelity 
with  their  lives,  they  were  released.  Sogdiana  had  long  been 
under  Persian  influence;  for  we  find  in  the  Behisttin  inscrip- 
tion102 that  it  formed  a  part  of  the  realm  of  Darius.  Probably 
the  people  of  this  province  spoke  a  dialect  resembling  Persian, 
and  that  tongue  may  also  have  been  fairly  well  known.  At 
any  rate,  we  should  expect  the  nobility  to  know  the  language 
of  the  ruling  country.  This  makes  it  probable  that  the  inter- 
preters spoke  Persian  and  Greek. 

Still  it  appears  that  Alexander  had  a  man  who  could  speak 
the  language  of  Sogdiana.  News  came  to  Alexander  that 
Spitamenes103  was  besieging  those  whom  he  had  left  as  a  garri- 
son in  the  citadel  at  Maracanda,  in  Sogdiana.  He  dispatched 
troops  there,  among  them  fifteen  hundred  mercenary  infantry 

101  Curt.  VII,  10,  4  sqq. 

102  Cf.  The  Sculptures  and  Inscription  of  Darius  the  Great  on  the  Rock  of 
Behistun  in  Persia,  ed.  by  L.  W.  King  and  R.  C.  Thomson,  London,  1907: 
p.  4,  Persian  text,   Column  I,   16;   p.  96,  Susian  Version,   Column  I,   13; 
p.  161,  Babylonian  Version,  6. 

103Arrian,  Anab.  IV,  3. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients   43 

over  whom  he  placed  Pharnuches,104  the  interpreter,  who, 
though  by  birth  a  Lycian,  was  skilled  in  the  language  of  the 
barbarians  of  this  country  and  in  other  respects  appeared  clever 
in  dealing  with  them.  Whether  Alexander's  interpreters  with 
the  Mardians  and  the  Sogdians  spoke  Persian  or  not,  we  do  not 
know;  but  if  a  man  speaking  Persian  was  understood  by  the 
Armenian  women,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  that  tongue 
was  also  understood  by  the  Mardians  and  the  Sogdians,  es- 
pecially by  the  latter. 

5.  GREEK  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  BARBARIAN  LANGUAGES 

As  we  return  to  the  mercenaries  of  Cyrus  the  Younger,  Xeno- 
phon  calls  our  attention  to  a  very  interesting  episode.  On  one 
occasion  during  their  retreat,  the  Ten  Thousand,  simply  by 
accident,  happened  to  have  among  them  a  person  who  could 
speak  the  language  of  the  country  through  which  they  passed. 
As  the  Macrones  obstructed  their  march,105  one  of  the  peltasts 
came  up  to  Xenophon  and  said  that  he  had  been  a  slave  at 
Athens  and  that  he  wished  to  tell  him  that  he  recognized  the 
speech  of  these  people.  "I  think,"  said  he,  "this  is  my  native 
country  and,  if  there  is  no  objection,  I  will  have  a  talk  with 
them."  "No  objection  at  all,"  replied  Xenophon,  "pray  do, 
and  ask  them  first  who  they  are. "  In  answer  to  this  question, 
they  said  that  they  were  Macrones.  "Well,  then,"  said  Xeno- 
phon, "ask  them  why  they  are  drawn  up  in  battle  and  want 
to  fight  with  us."  They  answered,  "Because  you  are  invading 
our  country."  The  generals  bade  him  say  that  they  intended 
no  harm,  but  had  been  at  war  with  the  King  and  were  now  re- 
turning to  Hellas,  while  all  they  wanted  was  to  reach  the  sea. 
The  Macrones  asked  whether  they  were  willing  to  give  pledges 
to  that  effect.  The  Greeks  replied  that  they  were  willing  both 
to  give  and  to  receive  them.  Then  the  Macrones  gave  a  bar- 
baric lance  to  the  Greeks  and  they  in  turn  a  Hellenic  lance  to 
them.  These  the  Macrones  said  would  serve  as  pledges,  and 


104 L.  c.,  "IxtTaauet  8£  ai-roT?  <frapvo6xT]v  T&V  Ipfjujvla,  Ti  [i£v  y£vo<;  Auxcov 
T&V  4>apvouxT}v,  ^[xxefpox;  8£  TTJC;  TS  (JxovTJq  TWV  TCCUTH  @ap@ap(ov  e^ovTa, 
xal  Tii  #XXa  6[/.tX7Jaai  auTOtq  8e£t&v  <paiv6[xsvov. "  It  is  possible  that  Anian 
means  the  particular  dialect  of  the  region. 

106  Xen.  Anab.  IV,  8,  4  sqq. 


44    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

both  sides  called  the  gods  to  witness.  In  the  other  quoted 
passages,  the  use  of  the  interpreter  was  simply  mentioned,  but 
here  the  author  takes  pains  to  tell  us  how  the  linguist  was 
prompted  for  every  sentence  that  he  spoke.  It  would,  indeed, 
be  impossible  for  a  man  to  make  a  long  speech  and  then  expect 
the  translator  to  repeat  from  memory  the  same  words  without 
errors  or  omissions. 

A  little  later,  the  Hellenes  continued  their  retreat  from  Cerasus 
to  the  frontiers  of  the  Mossy noecians.  A  conference  of  the 
Mossynoecian  chiefs  and  the  generals  of  the  Greeks  was  then 
arranged  by  Timesitheus  of  Trapezus,  who  was  proxenus  of 
this  people.  Xenophon  made  a  speech,  which  was  interpreted 
by  Timesitheus.104  An  alliance  was  then  made  with  the  Mos- 
synoecians  against  their  hostile  subjects  to  the  West. 

Leaving  the  Ten  Thousand  for  the  time  being  until  they  shall 
have  returned  to  European  soil,  we  find  that  Greek-speaking 
commanders  used  interpreters  when  they  had  to  deal  with  an 
army  of  various  nationalities.  Before  engaging  in  the  battle 
of  Rhaphia  with  Pompey,  Antiochus  and  Ptolemy107  went  along 
their  respective  lines  and  addressed  words  of  encouragement 
and  exhortation  to  their  officers,  while  they  called  upon  those 
who  were  going  to  engage  to  maintain  the  fight  with  a  manly 
and  courageous  spirit.  Some  of  these  words  they  delivered 
by  their  own  lips,  others  through  interpreters. 

6.  GREEK  AND  THRACIAN 

In  narrating  the  later  fortunes  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  Xeno- 
phon incidentally  mentions  the  use  of  interpreters  of  Greek  and 
Thracian.  When  they  were  upon  European  soil,  Xenophon 
desired  to  speak  with  the  Thracian  chieftain  Seuthes,108  and 
therefore  sent  the  interpreter  whom  he  happened  to  have  with 
him,  ordering  him  to  inform  Seuthes  that  Xenophon  was  there 
and  desired  a  conference  with  him.  About  two  hundred  pel- 
tasts  then  came  and  conducted  Xenophon  to  the  Thracian, 
and  a  conference  followed.  Probably  they  used  an  interpreter 
also  at  the  meeting,  although,  as  we  shall  see,  Seuthes  under- 

1MXen.  Anab.  V,  4,  4. 

107  Polyb.  V,  83. 

108  Xen.  Anab.  VII,  2,  19. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  45 

stood  Greek  fairly  well.  That  does  not,  however,  imply  that  he 
could  speak  the  language  with  any  degree  of  fluency,  and  al- 
though he  might  have  followed  without  help  all  or  almost  all 
that  Xenophon  said,  it  is  most  likely  that  he  himself  spoke 
Thracian. 

Being  soldiers  by  profession,  Xenophon  and  the  Greeks  en- 
tered the  service  of  Seuthes;  but  when  the  Lacedaemonians 
were  going  to  fight  against  Tissaphernes,  envoys  were  sent  from 
Sparta  to  Thrace  to  get  the  troops.  Seuthes  and  Heracleides 
brought  the  two  Laconian  agents  to  the  army,  which  was  then 
addressed  by  the  envoys.  The  Thracian  chieftain  remained 
within  earshot109  to  hear  what  was  going  on,  and  not  being 
willing  to  take  any  chances,  he  had  his  interpreter  at  his  side 
although  he  himself  understood  most  things1090  that  were  spoken 
in  Greek. 

Subsequently,110  Seuthes  sent  Abrozelmes,  his  private  inter- 
preter, to  Xenophon,  urging  him  to  stay  behind  with  one  thou- 
sand hoplites  and  promising  to  deliver  to  him  the  places  on  the 
sea  coast  and  to  fulfill  other  promises  in  their  previous  agree- 
ment. He  also  added  that  if  he  fell  into  the  clutches  of  the 
Lacedaemonians,  Thibron  was  certain  to  put  him  to  death. 
But  in  obedience  to  the  omens,  Xenophon  refused. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  Anabasis  of  Xenophon  and  the  records 
of  the  expedition  of  Alexander  furnish  us  with  a  fairly  extensive 
account  of  the  use  of  interpreters  by  an  army  and  a  general. 
Xenophon  does  not  forget  that  two  languages  prevailed  in  Cyrus' 
forces,  and  so  he  takes  pains  to  state  that  Pategyas  gave  the 
alarm  of  the  King's  approach  both  in  Persian  and  in  Greek. 
Cyrus  had  his  interpreter  Pigres,  who,  when  Epyaxa  visited  the 
army,  carried  his  order  to  the  Greeks  to  make  a  charge;  again 
before  the  battle  at  Cunaxa,  the  Persian  was  accompanied  by 
Pigres,  his  interpreter.  After  that  memorable  conflict,  Tis- 
saphernes, at  a  conference  with  the  Greek  generals,  spoke  through 


109  Xen.  Anab.  VII,  6,  8. 

109  At  a  banquec  with  the  Hellenic  officers,  Seuthes  did  not,  however, 
understand  a  remark  that  the  gourmand  Arystas  made  to  the  cupbearer 
(Xen.  Anab.  VII,  3,  24-25).     Since  the  latter  could  speak  Greek,  he  inter- 
preted the  words  to  his  royal  master. 

110  Xen.  Anab.  VII,  6,  43. 


46    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

an  intermediary.  The  Hellenes  also  had  their  interpreter, 
as  Xenophon  informs  us  in  Anab.  II,  5,  35.  On  the  retreat, 
interpreters  were  used  in  speaking  with  the  Carduchians,  with 
Tiribazus,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Armenia,  with  the  women 
of  an  Armenian  village,  with  a  village  chief  in  Armenia,  with 
the  Macronians,  and  with  the  Mossynoecians.  Finally  when 
the  Ten  Thousand  were  on  European  soil,  both  Seuthes  the 
Thracian  and  Xenophon  employed  special  linguists. 

Alexander,  during  his  invasion  of  Asia,  employed  a  "bi- 
lingual" guide  and  used  an  interpreter  to  console  the  wife  and 
mother  of  Darius.  He  also  addressed  his  Asiatic  troops  by 
means  of  one.  He  had  recourse  to  the  same  expedient  in  mak- 
ing a  proclamation  in  Margiana  and  in  conversing  with  the 
noble  captives  from  Sogdiana.  When  he  sent  an  expedition 
into  the  latter  country,  the  forces  were  commanded  by  Phar- 
nuches,  his  interpreter,  who  was  skilled  in  the  language  of  the 
country.  He  also  used  his  linguistic  experts  in  conversing  with 
Hephaestion  and  with  the  Indian  philosophers.  Especially 
interesting  is  the  conversation  between  the  philosopher  Man- 
danis  and  Onesicritus,  the  representative  of  Alexander;  on  this 
occasion  a  series  of  three  interpreters  was  used. 


CHAPTER  VII 

INTERPRETERS  OF  LATIN  AND  GREEK 

Without  considering  in  this  chapter  the  use  of  Greek  and 
Latin  in  Roman  executive  and  judicial  administration,  let  us 
go  back  to  the  time  of  Cato  the  Elder,  who  according  to  Plu- 
tarch111 had  accompanied  M'.  Acilius  Glabrio  into  Greece  as  a 
military  tribune.  He  made  a  considerable  stay  at  Athens,  and 
some  people  asserted  that  he  delivered  an  oration  in  Greek  to 
the  Athenians.  This  account,  according  to  Plutarch,  was  not 
true,  for  he  spoke  to  them  through  another  person;  not  that  he 
was  ignorant  of  Greek,  but  because  he  chose  to  adhere  to  the 
customs  of  his  country,  and  laughed  at  those  who  admired 
nothing  that  was  not  Greek.  The  Athenians  admired  the 
strength  and  conciseness  of  his  language;  for  what  he  delivered 
in  few  words,  the  interpreter  reported  at  length  and  with  many 
words;  insomuch  that  he  left  them  in  the  opinion  that  the  ex- 
pressions of  the  Greeks  flowed  only  from  the  lips,  while  those 
of  the  Romans  came  from  the  heart. 

Even  as  late  as  the  time  of  Cicero,  when  cultured  Romans 
knew  Greek  thoroughly,  interpreters  were  used  in  official  com- 
munications with  Hellenic  communities,  most  probably  as  a 
matter  of  national  pride.  Cicero112  mentions  Cn.  Publicius 
Menander,  a  freedman,  whom  the  Roman  ambassadors  setting 
out  for  Greece  wished  to  have  with  them. 

But  the  Romans  did  not  always  use  interpreters  in  their 
embassies  to  Hellenic  lands.  Appian113  narrates  that  L.  Cor- 
nelius (282  B.  C.)  had  gone  sight-seeing  along  the  coast  of  Magna 
Graecia  with  ten  decked  ships.  The  Tarentines  sank  four  and 
captured  one  with  all  on  board,  and  sacked  Thurii,  an  ally  of 


111  Plut.  Cato  Maior  12. 

mCic.  Balb.  11,28. 

111  Appian,  III,  De  Rebus  Samniticis  7. 

47 


48    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

Rome.  When  the  Romans  learned  of  these  events  they  sent 
an  embassy  to  Tarentum,  and  demanded  that  the  men,  who 
had  been  taken  not  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  as  mere  sight-seers, 
should  be  brought  back  to  their  homes;  that  the  property  that 
had  been  seized  as  plunder  or  an  equivalent  of  what  had  been 
lost,  should  be  restored;  and  finally  that  they  should  surrender 
the  authors  of  these  crimes,  if  they  wished  to  continue  on  good 
terms  with  the  Romans.  The  Tarentines  made  difficulties  about 
admitting  the  embassy  to  their  council  at  all,  and  when  they 
had  received  them,  jeered  at  them  because  they  did  not  speak 
Greek  perfectly  and  made  fun  of  their  togas  and  of  the  purple 
stripe  upon  them. 

As  we  leave  the  republican  period  and  pass  on  to  the  em- 
pire, one  of  the  incidents  related  by  Suetonius114  makes  us  feel 
reasonably  certain  that  on  this  particular  occasion  Greek  was 
interpreted  into  Latin.  When  Tiridates,  the  king  of  Armenia, 
came  to  Rome,  Nero  permitted  him  to  throw  himself  at  his 
feet,  but  quickly  raised  him  with  his  right  hand  and  kissed  him. 
The  emperor  then,  as  Tiridates  was  making  his  prayer  unto 
him,  took  the  turban  from  the  king's  head  and  replaced  it  by  a 
crown,  while  a  man  of  praetorian  rank  interpreted  the  words 
of  the  suppliant  king  to  the  multitude.  The  context  implies 
that  Nero  had  no  difficulty  in  understanding  what  Tiridates 
said,  but  surely  no  one  would  assume  that  Nero  knew  Armenian 
or  any  other  oriental  language.  Tiridates  must  have  spoken 
Greek, mwhich  the  Roman  multitude  would  not  have  understood 
and  which  accordingly  had  to  be  interpreted. 


114  Suet.  Nero  13. 

118  Greek  was  well  known  in  the  Orient,  especially  after  the  conquests  of 
Alexander.  The  ruling  classes  in  particular  had  an  acquaintance  with  the 
Greek  language  and  literature.  Plutarch,  Crassus  33,  gives  an  example  of  this. 
Hyrodes,  the  Parthian  king  (a  contemporary  of  M.  Crassus)  was  reconciled 
to  Artavasdes,  the  Armenian,  and  agreed  to  a  marriage  between  that  prince's 
sister  and  his  own  son  Pacorus.  They  went  to  each  other's  entertainments, 
where  many  tales  from  Greece  were  represented.  For,  he  says,  Hyrodes 
was  not  unversed  either  in  the  language  or  in  the  literature  of  that  country. 
In  the  same  passage,  speaking  of  Artavasdes,  he  says:  "  xccl  TpaytpBt'ocq  £rco(ec 
xal  Xoyouq  eypaipe  xal  ltnopta<;,  J>v  evtat  Btaaw^ovrat."  Plutarch  does 
not  state  in  what  language  Artavasdes  wrote,  but  we  may  infer  that  he 
means  Greek.  Now  if  these  two  Orientals  knew  that  language,  it  is  safe  to 
assume  that  Tiridates,  who  lived  at  a  later  period,  did  also. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

INTERPRETERS    OF    LATIN    AND    BARBARIAN 
V  LANGUAGES 

Again,  leaving  out  of  consideration  in  this  chapter  the  use  of 
interpreters  in  Roman  executive  and  judicial  administration,  we 
find  that  Etruscan  was  interpreted  into  Latin,  and  Latin  into 
Etruscan.  In  301  B.  C.,  after  the  Romans  had  been  defeated 
by  their  northern  neighbors,  the  dictator  M.  Valerius  Maxi- 
mus  advanced  into  the  territory  of  Rusellae.118  The  enemy  fol- 
lowed and  endeavored  to  use  a  stratagem.  There  were,  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  Roman  camp,  the  half-ruined  houses 
of  a  town  burnt  in  the  devastation  of  the  country.  Among 
these  they  concealed  a  body  of  troops,  and  then  drove  on  some 
cattle  within  view  of  a  Roman  post  commanded  by  the  lieu- 
tenant Cn.  Fulvius.  Since  this  temptation  did  not  induce 
any  of  the  Romans  to  stir  from  his  station,  one  of  the  herdsmen 
advanced  close  to  the  works  and  called  out  to  the  other  Etrus- 
cans, who  at  their  leisure  were  driving  out  the  cattle  from  the 
ruins  of  the  town.  He  asked  why  they  remained  idle  when 
they  might  safely  drive  the  herd  through  the  middle  of  the  Ro- 
man camp.  This  was  interpreted  to  the  lieutenant  by  some 
natives  of  Caere,  and  soon  great  impatience  was  felt  through 
every  company  of  the  soldiers,  who  nevertheless  dared  not 
move  without  orders.  Then  Fulvius  commanded  some  who 
were  skilled  in  the  language,  to  observe  attentively  whether 
the  dialect  of  the  herdsmen  was  that  of  rustics  or  that  of 
townsmen.  These  reported  that  the  enemy's  accent  in  speaking, 
as  well  as  their  manner  and  appearance,  was  of  a  more  polished 
cast  than  suited  rustics.  "Go  then,"  said  Fulvius,  "tell  them 
that  they  may  uncover  the  ambush  which  they  evidently  conceal ; 
that  the  Romans  understand  all  their  devices,  and  can  now  be 
no  more  taken  by  stratagem  than  they  can  be  conquered  by 

u«  Liv.  X,  4. 

49 


50    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

arms."  When  these  words  were  heard  and  reported  to  those 
who  lay  in  ambush,  they  immediately  disclosed  themselves. 

We  may  safely  assume  that  a  good  many  people  on  the  bor- 
der of  Etruria  and  Latium  knew  both  Latin  and  Etruscan,  and 
that  it  was  an  easy  matter  to  find  interpreters  of  the  two  lan- 
guages. One  would  think  that  it  was  more  difficult  to  find,  on 
the  spur  of  the  moment,  a  man  who  knew  both  Latin  and  Punic. 
Yet  we  have  record  of  an  interpreter  who  could  read  the  latter 
tongue.  Livy117  tells  us  that  the  four  Gallic  horsemen  and  the 
two  Numidians  who  had  been  sent  with  a  letter  by  Hasdrubal 
to  Hannibal  were  caught  and  sent  to  the  consul  Claudius  Nero. 
Claudius  had  the  letters  read  to  him  by  an  interpreter,  and 
learned  that  Hasdrubal  was  going  to  meet  Hannibal  in  Um- 
bria.  Whether  this  linguist  was  a  professional  or  not,  we  do 
not  know.  It  is  possible  that  during  a  war  of  such  great  im- 
portance, the  Romans  had  experts  in  the  Carthaginian  language. 
They  certainly  could  not  put  absolute  confidence  in  Punic 
prisoners  of  war  in  momentous  matters. 

Again,  interpreters  were  used  when  the  two  great  heroes  of 
the  Second  Punic  War  met  face  to  face.118  Before  the  battle  of 
Zama,  Scipio  and  Hannibal  had  a  colloquy,  each  having  ad- 
vanced from  his  camp  accompanied  by  a  few  attendants.  When 
they  came  near  each  other,  they  left  these  escorts  and  met  in 
the  middle  of  the  intervening  space,  each  accompanied  by  an 
interpreter.  Surely  Scipio  knew  Greek,  since  every  cultured 
Roman  in  his  day  learned  that  language.  Cornelius  Nepos11* 
informs  us  that  Hannibal  knew  Greek.  He  also  knew  Latin,110 
but  he  spoke  it  with  a  foreign  accent.111  Under  these  conditions 


m  Liv.  XXVII,  43,  5. 

^Polyb.  XV,  6;  Liv.  XXX,  30. 

"•  Nep.  Hann.  13,  2. 

130  Cassius  Dio,  Zonaras  VIII,  24,  8,  in  Boissevain,  Vol.  I,  p.  207. 

m  Plut.  Fab.  Max.  6,  i;  Liv.  XXII,  13.  In  217  B.  C.,  Hannibal  resolved 
to  march  from  Samnium  into  Campania  and  commanded  his  guide  (Plutarch 
gives  it  in  the  plural)  to  conduct  him  into  the  territory  of  Casinum.  But 
since  he  spoke  with  a  Carthaginian  accent  and  mispronounced  the  Latin 
words,  the  guide  misunderstood  him  and  thought  that  he  said  Casilinum 
instead  of  Casinum;  so  that  turning  from  the  high  road,  he  led  him  through 
the  territories  of  Allifae,  Calatia,  and  Cales  down  into  the  plain  of  Stellas. 
Hannibal  called  the  man  and  asked  him  where  he  was.  He  replied  that  he 
would  lodge  that  night  at  Casilinum;  but  when  Hannibal  discovered  the 
mistake  and  learned  that  Casinum  lay  at  a  very  great  distance  in  quite  a 
different  direction,  he  had  his  guide  scourged  and  crucified. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients   51 

they  could  have  held  their  parley  without  interpreters,  but 
national  pride  demanded  that  each  man  speak  the  vernacular 
of  his  own  people. 

Later  on  in  Roman  history,  interpreters  were  used  in  a  secret 
conference122  held  by  Sulla  and  Bocchus,  the  king  of  Maure- 
tania  and  father-in-law  of  Jugurtha.  To  preserve  secrecy, 
they  employed  only  such  linguists  as  they  could  trust. 

That  interpreters  were  regularly  used  by  the  Romans  in 
dealing  with  the  Gauls  during  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar,  is 
shown  by  the  words  cotidianis  interpretibus  in  Caesar  B.  G. 
1 1  !9i  3i  where  he  narrates  his  conversation  with  Diviciacus, 
the  friend  of  the  Roman  people.  Caesar  (/.  c.)  describes 
the  colloquy  thus:  "Diviciacum  ad  se  vocari  iubet  et,  cotidianis 
interpretibus  remotis,  per  C.  Valerium  Procillum  (Troucillum?), 
principem  Galliae  provinciae,  familiarem  suum,  cui  summam 
omnium  rerum  fidem  habebat,  cum  eo  colloquitur.  To  quote 
Professor  Rolfe:123  "Apparently  the  only  other  direct  reference 
to  interpreters  in  Caesar's  works  besides  the  one  quoted  above, 
although  he  must  have  made  constant  use  of  them,  is  in  B.  G. 
v.  36.  i:  'his  rebus  permotus  Q.  Titurius,  cum  procul  Ambio- 
rigem  suos  cohortantem  conspexisset  interpretem  suum  Cn. 
Pompeium  ad  eum  mittit  rogatum  ut  sibi  militibusque  parcat.' 
The  use  of  an  interpreter  is  implied  in  B.  G.  i.  47.  4,  where 
C.  Valerius  Procillus  is  sent  to  talk  with  Ariovistus,  'propter 
linguae  Gallicae  scientiam,  qua  multa  iam  Ariovistus  longinqua 
consuetudine  utebatur.'  Ariovistus,  then,  in  spite  of  his  ap- 
parent knowledge  of  what  was  going  on  in  Rome,  did  not  speak 
Latin  (at  least  not  readily)  and  the  message  from  the  nobiles 
principesque  populi  Romani  who  would  have  been  glad  to  hear 
of  Caesar's  taking  off  (B.  G.  i.  44.  12)  were  doubtless  conveyed 
to  him  through  the  medium  of  Gallic- speaking  interpreters. 
Probably  the  interchange  of  speeches  between  Ariovistus  and 
Caesar  was  made  in  the  same  way.  At  any  rate  it  is  obvious 
that  in  the  speeches  of  Ariovistus  we  have  the  substance  of  his 
remarks  reported  in  Caesar's  own  language. 


m  Sail.  lug.  109,  4. 

1M  Classical  Journal  VII,  p.  128. 


52    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

"The  interpreters  who  are  mentioned  by  name  by  Caesar 
appear  to  be  Romans,  or  more  probably  Romanized  Gauls. 
Doubtless  a  few  Romans  spoke  Celtic,  although  Caesar  ap- 
parently did  not  at  the  beginning  of  his  campaigns  in  Gaul, 
but  as  has  been  said,  it  is  highly  improbable  that  any  consider- 
able number  of  the  inhabitants  of  Gallia  Comata  spoke  any- 
thing more  than  traders'  Latin.  Whether  the  mercatores  from 
whom  Caesar  obtained  information  at  various  times  (e.  g.,  B.  G. 
iv.  20.  4),  and  from  whom  his  army  heard  terrifying  reports 
of  the  size  and  courage  of  the  German  followers  of  Ariovistus, 
were  Italians  or  Gauls  is  not  stated.  In  either  case  they  prob- 
ably had  a  slight  and  mainly  professional  command  of  Latin 
or  of  Celtic,  as  the  case  may  be."  No  doubt  many  Romans 
in  Northern  Italy  spoke  Gallic,  just  as  many  Gauls  in  the  same 
section  could  probably  speak  Latin.  Possibly  a  good  many 
Gauls1"  and  Germans  learned  Latin  by  serving  in  the  Roman 
army.  Thus,  according  to  Tacitus,125  Arminius  learned  Latin 
while  serving  in  a  camp  as  leader  of  a  detachment  of  his  people. 


124  Cf.  Mommsen,  History  of  Rome,  Book  V,  chap.  VIII  (Vol.  V,  p.  30. 
Eng.  translation,  1900):  "In  free  Gaul  itself,  i.  e.,  among  the  Arverni,  the 
Roman  language  was  not  unknown  even  before  the  conquest;  although  this 
knowledge  was  probably  still  restricted  to  few,  and  even  the  men  of  rank  of 
the  allied  canton  of  the  Haedui  had  to  be  conversed  with  through  interpre- 
ters."  His  view  is  that  among  the  "breeches- wearing "  Gauls  of  the  south 
the  knowledge  of  Latin  was  more  general,  but  that  even  there  its  quality  was 
not  high.  Op.  cit.,  Vol.  V,  p.  10:  "This  bad  Latin  was  sufficient  to  enable 
even  the  remote  Allobroges  to  transact  business  with  Rome,  and  even  to  give 
testimony  in  the  Roman  courts  without  an  interpreter." 

Mommsen  seems  to  believe  in  an  early  knowledge  of  Latin  among  the 
Gauls.  If  he  is  right  in  his  supposition,  we  must  not  suppose  that  Latin, 
at  an  early  date,  supplanted  Gallic.  Indeed  the  latter  seems  to  have  per- 
sisted long  after  the  introduction  of  the  Roman  culture.  Claudian,  Epig.  I, 
19-20,  tells  us  that  muleteers  used  Gallic  in  driving  their  animals:  "Miraris, 
si  voce  feras  pacaverit  Orpheus,  |  Cum  pronas  pecudes  Gallica  verba  regant. " 
A  passage  from  Ulpian,  lib.  II  fideicommissorum,  quoted  in  Justinian's  Digest, 
XXXII,  n,  also  points,  to  a  rather  late  persistence  of  the  Gallic  speech: 
"Fideicommissa  quocumque  sermone  relinqui  possunt  non  solum  Latina 
vel  Graeca,  sed  etiam  Punica  vel  Gallicana,  vel  alterius  cuiuscumque  gentis. " 
It  seems  that  the  adjectives  Latina,  Graeca,  etc.  agree  with  "lingua"  under- 
stood from  "sermone." 

m  Tac.  Ann.  II,  10. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  53 

It  is  recorded  that  on  a  certain  occasion  a  Roman  freedman 
interpreted  the  wishes  of  a  distant  nation  to  the  people  of  Rome. 
During  the  reign  of  Claudius,  an  embassy  came  from  the  is- 
land of  Taprobane126.  This  took  place  under  the  following 
circumstances:  Annius  Plocamus  had  farmed  for  the  treasury 
the  revenues  from  the  Red  Sea.  A  certain  freedman  of  his, 
Rachias  by  name,  while  sailing  around  Arabia,  was  carried 
away  by  a  gale  from  the  north  beyond  the  coast  of  Carmania. 
In  the  course  of  fifteen  days  he  had  drifted  to  Hippurus,  a  port 
of  Taprobane,  where  he  was  most  kindly  and  hospitably  re- 
ceived by  the  king;  after  a  study  of  six  months  he  became 
well  acquainted  with  the  language  and  was  enabled  to  answer 
all  his  inquiries  relative  to  the  Romans  and  their  emperor.  But 
of  all  that  he  heard,  the  king  was  particularly  struck  with  sur- 
prise at  the  Romans'  rigid  notions  of  justice.  For, this  reason 
especially,  he  was  prompted  to  form  an  alliance  with  them, 
and  accordingly  sent  to  Rome  an  embassy  consisting  of  four 
persons,  the  chief  of  whom  was  Rachias,  through  whom  as 
interpreter  the  negotiations  must  have  been  carried  on. 

Later  on  in  the  history  of  the  Roman  empire,  we  find  that 
the  emperor  Caracalla127  used  interpreters.  He  would  often 
converse  with  emissaries  sent  from  the  provinces,  and  in  the 
presence  of  no  one  but  his  linguists,  would  urge  them,  in  case 
any  catastrophe  befell  him,  to  invade  Italy  and  march  upon 
Rome,  assuring  them  that  it  would  be  very  easy  to  capture 
the  city.  Then  to  prevent  his  traitorous  advice  from  being 
divulged,  he  would  put  the  interpreters  to  death  immediately. 


128  Plin.  N.  H.  VI,  22,  24,  §84-5. 
m  Cassius  Dio,  LXXVIII,  6. 


CHAPTER  IX 

INTERPRETERS  IN  ROMAN  EXECUTIVE  AND  JUDI- 
CIAL ADMINISTRATION 

Cicero118  refers  to  the  employment  of  interpreters  in  the 
Roman  Senate  as  the  regular  custom.  One  early  example  con- 
cerning the  Greek  tongue  indicates  the  same  practice.  In 
155  B.  C.,  the  Athenians  sent  three  philosophers,119  Carneades 
of  the  Academy,  Diogenes  the  Stoic,  and  Critolaus  the  Pe- 
ripatetic, to  the  Senate,  to  ask  that  the  Romans  remit  the  fine  of 
almost  five  hundred  talents,  which  they  had  imposed  on  account 
of  the  devastation  of  Oropus.  When  they  were  introduced  into 
the  Senate,  C.  Acilius  performed  the  office  of  interpreter. 

The  feeling  of  the  emperor  Tiberius  about  the  etiquette  of 
senatorial  business  in  respect  to  language  was  strong,  to  judge 
from  Suet.  Tib.  71:  "Sermone  Graeco  quamquam  alioqui 
promptus  et  facilis,  non  tamen  usque  quaque  usus  est  abstinu- 

itque  maxime  in  senatu Militem  quoque 

Graece  testimonium  interrogatum  nisi  Latine  respondere  ve- 
tuit. "  Yet  according  to  Cassius  Dio,130  Tiberius  was  wont 
to  hear  many  suits  that  were  argued  there  in  the  Greek  language 
and  to  investigate  many  himself.  Probably  he  did  not  speak 
that  tongue  in  the  Senate  unless  it  was  necessary,  as  in  the  case 
of  Hellenes  or  Greek-speaking  foreigners.  In  those  cases  he 


128  Cic.  De  div.  II,  64,  131:    "Qualis  autem  ista  mens  est  deorum,  si  neque 
ea  nobis  significant  in  somnis,  quae  ipsi  per  nos  intellegamus,  neque  ea,  quo- 
rum interpretes  habere  possimus?     Similes  enim  sunt  dei,  si  ea  nobis  obiciunt, 
quorum  nee  scientiam  neque  explanatorem  habeamus,  tamquam  si  Poeni 
aut  Hispani  in  senatu  nostro  loquerentur  sine  interprete";  De  fin.  V,  29,  89: 
"Ita,  quern  ad  modum   in  senatu  semper  est  aliquis,  qui  interpretem  pos- 
tulit,  sic  isti  (Stoici)  nobis  cum  interprete  audiendi  sunt." 

129  Cell.  VI,  14,  8  sq.;  Plutarch,  Cato  Maior  22,  in  noting  this  incident, 
mentions  only  Carneades  and  Diogenes  and  the  interpreter  C.  Acilius. 

130  Cassius  Dio,  LVII,  15. 

54 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients   55 

may  have  been  lenient  and  have  allowed  the  proceedings  to  be 
conducted  in  their  vernacular.  We  may  safely  say  that  he 
did  not  want  Romans  to  speak  Greek  in  the  Senate.  Possibly 
the  soldier  (Suet.  Tib.  71),  who  according  to  Cassius  Dio  (I.  c.) 
was  a  centurion,  and  who  wished  to  give  his  evidence  in  Greek, 
was  a  Roman.  If  such  was  the  case,  Tiberius  may  have  thought 
it  presumptuous131  for  the  soldier  to  speak  in  the  Hellenic  tongue, 
although  he  allowed  him  to  be  questioned  in  that  language. 
Possibly  the  centurion  had  served  many  years  in  the  East, 
and  consequently  his  ear  may  have  been  more  accustomed  to 
Greek  than  to  Latin,  even  though  he  were  a  Roman  by  birth. 
Tiberius  knew  sufficiently  well  that  the  soldier  had  not  entirely 
forgotten  his  vernacular,  and  although  he  made  one  important 
concession  in  the  asking  of  the  evidence,  he  compelled  him  to 
use  the  speech  which  befitted  a  native  born  Roman. 

According  to  Valerius  Maximus,1"  the  custom  of  speaking 
Greek  in  the  Senate,  began  with  Molo  at  the  time  of  Sulla's 
dictatorship.  Again,  we  find  that  Greek  was  spoken  in  the 
Roman  Senate  in  the  reign  of  Claudius,  who  bestowed  consular 
honors  on  Agrippa  of  Palestine  and  enlarged  his  domain,  since 
the  Jew  during  his  stay  at  Rome  had  helped  Claudius  become 
emperor.  To  his  brother  Herod,  he  gave  praetorial  dignities 
and  some  authority.  The  brothers  were  allowed  to  enter  the 
Senate  and  express  their  thanks  to  him  in  Greek.133  The  his- 
torian adds  that  these  were  acts  of  Claudius  himself,  which  were 
lauded  by  all.  This  is  explained  by  Mommsen  (Staatsr.  Ill, 
960)  on  the  ground  that  they  possessed  the  privilege  of  Roman 
citizenship.  Why  he  resorts  to  this  explanation  does  not  seem 
clear,  since  it  is  evident  from  the  passages  quoted  from  Valerius 
Maximus  and  Cassius  Dio  that  to  speak  Greek  in  the  Roman 
Senate  was  not  uncommon.  Tiberius  allowed  the  centurion 


U1  When  Philotas,  the  son  of  Parmenio,  was  tried  for  conspiracy  against 
Alexander,  he  preferred  speaking  Greek  to  using  his  native  Macedonian. 
Cf.  Curt.  VI,  9,  34  sqq. 

132  Val.  Max.  II,  2,  3:  "Quis  ergo  huic  consuetudini,  qua  nunc  Graecis 
actionibus  aures  curiae  exsurdantur,  ianuam  patefecit?  Ut  opinor  Molo 
rhetor,  qui  studia  M.  Ciceronis  acuit.  Eum  namque  ante  omnes  exterarum 
gentium  in  senatu  sine  interprete  auditum  constat." 

188  Cassius  Dio,  LX,  8. 


56    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

to  be  questioned  in  that  language,  though  he  required  him  to 
answer  in  Latin.  Thus,  while  the  Romans  were  strict  in  using 
interpreters  abroad  as  a  matter  of  principle,  it  appears  that 
they  were  more  flexible  about  the  matter  at  home.  If  in  the 
provinces  dignity  was  added  to  their  rule  by  conducting  their 
judicial  proceedings  in  Latin,  surely  no  prestige  was  lost  by 
allowing  Greek  to  be  spoken  in  the  Senate  of  the  capital  of  the 
world,  where  it  was  familiar  to  every  educated  man.  Still  it  is 
possible  that  sometimes  Greek  was  interpreted  into  Latin  in 
the  Senate. 

In  passing  to  the  use  of  interpreters  by  the  provincial  govern- 
ors, we  note  that  Verres,134  like  other  men  of  similar  position, 
employed  interpreters  in  Hellenic  Sicily.  We  know  that  one 
called  Aulus  Valentius"6  served  him  in  this  capacity. 

Probably  interpreters  were  necessary  in  many  of  the  prov- 
inces, for  we  know  of  no  Roman  whose  linguistic  attainments 
were  equal  to  those  of  Mithridates  or  Cleopatra.  There,  how- 
ever, it  was  not  a  question  of  linguistic  ability,  but  a  matter  of 
national  pride1"  and  principle,  as  Valerius  Maximus137  states, 
and  not  of  mere  necessity. 

At  this  point,  let  us  quote  once  more  from  Professor  Rolfe188: 
"Not  many  of  the  names  of  the  interpreters  are  given  in  full. 


m  Cic.  Verr.  II,  n,  22,  54;  II,  iv,  22,  49;  II,  in,  37,  84;  II,  iv,  26,  58. 

U5  Consult  last  two  references  of  preceding  footnote. 

u*  According  to  Strabo,  XIII,  4,  12,  C  629,  the  Romans  did  not  form  their 
judicial  districts  according  to  tribes  and  languages.  He  maintains  that  this 
has  contributed  not  a  little  to  produce  confusion  in  those  regions  bordering 
on  the  Lydians  and  Mysians  towards  the  south  and  extending  to  Mount 
Taurus.  This  region  was  so  intermixed  that  the  limits  of  Phrygia,  Lydia, 
Caria,  and  Mysia  were  difficult  to  distinguish. 

"Wai.  Max.  II,  2,  2:  "Magistratus  vero  prisci  quantopere  suam  popu- 
lique  Romani  maiestatem  retinentes  se  gesserint  hinc  cognosci  potest,  quod 
inter  cetera  obtinendae  gravitatis  indicia  illud  quoque  magna  cum  perseve- 
rantia  custodiebant,  ne  Graecis  umquam  nisi  Latine  responsa  darent.  Quin 
etiam  ipsos  linguae  volubilitate,  qua  plurimum  valent,  excussa  per  interpre- 
tem  loqui  cogebant,  non  in  urbe  tantum  nostra,  sed  etiam  in  Graecia  et 
Asia,  quo  scilicet  Latinae  vocis  honos  per  omnes  gentes  venerabilior  diffun- 
deretur.  Nee  illis  deerant  studia  doctrinae,  sed  nulla  non  in  re  pallium  togae 
subici  debere  arbitrabantur,  indignum  esse  existimantes  inlecebris  et  suavitati 
litterarum  imperii  pondus  et  auctoritatem  donari. " 

118  Class.  Jour.  VII,  p.  129. 


The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients  57 

Cn.  Publicius  Menander  was  a  freedman  of  Greek  birth,  as 
appears  both  from  the  form  of  his  name  and  from  Cicero's 
express  statement.  It  seems  probable  that  in  many  cases  the 
interpreters  were  freedmen139  or  slaves,  and  that  the  languages 
which  they  interpreted  into  Latin  were  their  native  tongues. 
We  may  well  suppose  that  their  Latin,  like  the  English  of 
foreign  guides  and  dragomans,  was  fluent  rather  than  idiomatic 
and  elegant.  This  is  especially  likely  to  have  been  the  case 
outside  of  Italy,  if,  as  Mommsen  thinks  (Staatsr.  I,  352),  the 
magistrates  did  not  bring  their  interpreters  with  them  from 
Rome. 

"Interpreters  formed  a  part  of  the  apparitor es  of  the  magis- 
trates and  of  the  imperial  court,  and  are  occasionally  mentioned 
in  inscriptions."140 

After  the  battle  of  Pydna,  Perseus  was  taken  prisoner  and 
brought  before  Aemilius  Paulus.  He  asked  the  king  in  Greek1" 
what  wrong  had  led  him  to  undertake  a  war  against  the  Roman 
people  with  such  a  hostile  spirit,  thus  bringing  himself  and  his- 
kingdom  to  ultimate  ruin.  But  the  king,  looking  down  upon 
the  earth,  wept  in  silence  and  made  no  reply.  Again  the  con- 
sul addressed  him,  but  Perseus  uttered  not  a  word.  Then 
Aemilius  Paulus,  speaking  once  more  in  Latin142  and  pointing^ 
to  Perseus,  bade  the  members  of  his  council,  with  such  a  sight 
before  their  eyes,  not  to  be  too  elated  in  the  hour  of  success, 
nor  to  take  any  extreme  or  inhuman  measures  against  any  one. 


189  So  was  the  Menander  mentioned  Dig.  XLIX,  15,  5,  3:  "Et  ideo  in  quo- 
dam  interprete  Menandro,  qui,  posteaquam  apud  nos  manumissus  erat, 
missus  est  ad  suos,  non  est  visa  necessaria  lex,  quae  lata  est  de  illo,  ut  maneret 
civis  Romanus;  nam  sive  animus  ei  fuisset  remanendi  apud  suos,  desineret 
esse  civis,  sive  animus  fuisset  revertendi,  maneret  civis,  et  ideo  esset  lex 
super-vacua. " 

140  Orelli-Henzen  4204: 

C.  IANVARINVS  ||  SEXTVS  ||  INTERPRES  ||  VIVOS  SIBI  ||  FECIT. 
Orelli-Henzen  6319: 

D-  m-  ||  L-  DOmitio-  1-  1-  ||  HELIODORO ||  DOMI- 

TIVS-  PHILETVS  ||  INTERPRES-  AVG.  N-  ||  EDVCATORI  ||  DIGNIS- 
SIMO  FECIT. 

141  Liv.    XLV,    8,    6:    "haec  Graeco  sermone  Perseo,  Latine  deinde    suis 
.     .     .     .  inquit." 

14JPolyb.    XXIX,  20:  "6    8£    (xsTaXo^uv   T^JV    'Pcotxafx^v    ScdcXextov 


58   The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

nor  in  fact  ever  to  feel  the  permanence  of  their  present  good 
fortune,  since  it  is  uncertain  what  the  evening  may  bring; 
rather  it  was  precisely  at  the  time  of  greatest  success,  either 
public  or  private,  that  a  man  should  be  most  alive  to  the  pos- 
sibility of  a  reverse;  even  so  it  was  difficult  for  a  man  to  exhibit 
moderation  in  good  fortune;  but  the  distinction  between  fools 
and  wise  men  was  that  the  former  learned  only  by  their  own  mis- 
fortunes, the  latter  also  by  those  of  their  neighbors. 

On  the  day  on  which  Paulus  had  ordered  ten  chiefs  from  each 
of  the  states  to  assemble  at  Amphipolis,143  he  seated  himself  on 
his  tribunal,  with  the  ten  commissioners  that  had  been  ap- 
pointed by  the  Senate.  Here  he  was  surrounded  by  the  whole 
multitude  of  the  Macedonians.  When  silence  had  been  pro- 
claimed by  the  herald,  Paulus  promulgated  in  the  Latin  tongue 
the  regulations  adopted  by  the  Senate  and  by  himself  with  the 
advice  of  the  council.  Then  Cn.  Octavius,  the  praetor,  repeated 
the  same  in  Greek.  After  the  battle  we  see  in  Aemilius  Paulus 
the  generous  conqueror  who,  out  of  regard  for  the  vanquished 
king,  addressed  Perseus  directly  without  interposing  the  bar- 
rier of  an  interpreter;  before  the  assembly  at  Amphipolis,  he 
is  the  representative  of  the  Roman  people  and  accordingly 
speaks  Latin. 

A  Roman  conqueror,  however,  did  not  always  use  his  native 
tongue  in  addressing  a  vanquished  nation.  Thus  Octavian, 
when  pardoning  the  Egyptians  in  30  B.  C.,  addressed  them  in 
Greek144  in  order  that  they  might  understand  him. 


"»  Liv.  XLV,  29. 

144  Cassius  Dio,  LI,  16. 


CHAPTER  X 

INTERPRETERS  OF  A  BARBARIAN  LANGUAGE  AND 

ONE  OR  THE  OTHER  OF  THE  CLASSICAL 

LANGUAGES 

The  Greek  and  Latin  authors  do  not  always  state  whether 
it  was  Latin  or  Greek  into  which  the  barbarian  languages  were 
interpreted146;  and  occasionally  the  period  of  history  at  which 
the  events  took  place  does  not  permit  us  to  form  a  definite  con- 
clusion. As  an  incident  of  this  sort,  Josephus  recounts148  a 
most  interesting  story  of  the  use  of  an  intermediary.  When 
Agrippa  had  been  bound  by  the  order  of  Tiberius,  he,  with 
many  others  who  were  in  the  same  condition,  stood  before  the 
imperial  palace,  leaning  in  his  grief  against  a  certain  tree  on  which 
an  owl  happened  to  be  perched.  Then  one  of  the  captives,  a 
German,  noted  the  Jew  and  asked  the  soldier  to  whom  he  was 
bound,  who  that  man  in  purple  was;  and  when  he  was  informed 
that  his  name  was  Agrippa,  and  that  he  was  a  Jew  and  one  of 
the  principal  men  of  his  nation,  he  requested  the  soldier  to  ap- 
proach nearer  to  Agrippa  in  order  that  he  might  converse  with 
him,  saying  that  he  had  a  mind  to  inquire  about  certain  things 
that  related  to  his  country.  When  he  had  obtained  this  per- 
mission, he  approached  him  and  told  him  through  an  inter- 
preter, appealing  to  his  native  gods  and  those  of  Rome,  that 
what  he  was  going  to  say  about  Agrippa's  affairs  was  done 
neither  with  a  desire  to  win  favor  nor  to  make  him  cheerful 
without  cause;  for  such  predictions,  if  they  failed,  would  make 


146  An  incident  of  this  nature  is  recorded  by  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  XIX, 
II,  5.  The  emperor  Constantius  II  sent  two  tribunes,  each  with  an  inter- 
preter, to  the  Limigantes,  a  Sarmatian  tribe.  Possibly  the  tribunes  spoke 
Latin,  but  it  is  just  as  likely,  if  not  more  probable,  that  they  spoke  Greek  to 
their  interpreters. 

148  Joseph.  Antiq.  lud.  XVIII,  6,  7. 

59 


60   The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

his  grief  in  the  end  more  real  and  bitter  than  if  he  had  never 
heard  of  any  such  thing.  But  he  informed  him  that  the  gods 
would  provide  for  him  and  that  he  would  soon  be  delivered  out 
of  his  bonds  and  promoted  to  the  highest  dignity  and  power, 
while  he  would  be  envied  by  all  those  who  then  pitied  him  on 
account  of  his  hard  fortune;  that  he  would  be  happy  until  his 
death  and  leave  his  happiness  to  his  children.  But  he  also 
informed  him  that,  when  he  saw  an  owl  again,  death  was  but 
five  days  off.  However,  he  thought  it  would  have  been  unjust 
to  deprive  him  of  his  knowledge  of  the  future,  since  he  could 
endure  his  bondage  more  lightly  in  view  of  what  was  in  store 
for  him.  In  closing,  he  bade  Agrippa  remember  him  in  his 
prosperity  and  free  him  from  his  misery.  When  the  German 
said  this,  Agrippa  laughed  at  him  as  much  as  he  afterwards 
marveled  when  the  predicted  happiness  became  a  reality.  We 
do  not  know  whether  the  German  spoke  Latin  and  had  it  inter- 
preted into  Greek,  or  whether  he  spoke  his  Teutonic  dialect. 
At  any  rate,  it  seems  improbable  that  his  speech  was  interpreted 
from  German  or  Latin  into  Hebrew,  i.  e.,  Aramaic.  We  have 
seen  above  that  Agrippa  could  speak  Greek,  but  we  have  no 
evidence  of  his  knowledge  of  Latin.  It  is  possible  that  he  had 
an  acquaintance  with  that  tongue,  but  could  not  speak  it  with 
sufficient  fluency  to  make  an  address  in  the  Roman  Senate. 
If  he  had  some  knowledge  of  it,  he  could  probably  follow  the 
remarks  of  the  German  as  they  were  being  interpreted  from 
Teutonic  into  Latin. 


CHAPTER  XI 

FAILURE  OF  WRITERS  TO  CONSIDER  DIFFERENCES 
OF  LANGUAGE 

Various  nations,  it  appears,  have  had  dealings  with  one  an- 
other from  a  very  remote  period.  In  describing  the  intercourse 
of  divers  nations,  the  authors  in  many  cases  are  not  troubled 
by  the  difference  of  language  and  so  do  not  explain  how  the 
difficulty  was  overcome.  In  their  mind  the  important  thing  is 
the  historical  event  and  not  the  incidental  matter  of  the  inter- 
preters or  the  linguistic  difficulties.  Many  instances  of  this 
sort  can  be  drawn  from  the  classical  literatures,  but  for  our 
purpose  it  will  suffice  to  quote  a  few. 

After  the  victory  at  Arbela,147  Alexander  the  Great  received 
embassies  from  the  Carthaginians  and  other  African  states, 
as  well  as  from  Spain,  Sicily,  Gaul,  Sardinia,  and  Italy.  We 
are  informed  that  Pythagoras  studied148  in  Egypt  and  in  Baby- 
lon, but  no  mention  is  made  of  his  studying  foreign  languages, 
as  is  done  in  the  case  of  Themistocles.  The  great  traveler 
Herodotus  nowhere  intimates  that  he  knew  the  languages  of 
any  of  the  countries  that  he  visited,  and  yet  he  only  once  tells 
us  that  he  used  an  interpreter.149  It  is  recorded180  that  the 
great  Mithridates,  when  he  was  preparing  for  war  against  Rome, 
sent  embassies  to  distant  nations:  the  Cimbri,  the  Gallograeci, 
the  Sarmatae,  and  the  Bastarnae;  but  no  mention  is  made  of 
the  difficulties  attendant  upon  the  use  of  foreign  tongues. 
Among  later  examples,  Caesar161  narrates  that  during  the  Gallic 
War  he  received  information  about  the  enemy  from  captives 

»«  Just.  XII,  13,  i. 
148  Just.  XX,  4,  3. 
"•Hdt.  II,  125. 

160  Just.  XXXVIII,  3,  6. 

161  E.  g.  Caes.  B.  G.  I,  22;  VII,  44. 

61 


62    The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

and  deserters,  but  he  does  not  take  the  trouble  to  tell  us  how 
he  overcame  the  difference  of  language. 

In  this  connexion,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  call  attention  to 
the  usage  of  the  poets.  Persons  of  different  nationalities, 
speaking  various  languages,  meet  and  have  no  difficulty  in  ad- 
dressing and  understanding  one  other.  Thus  Aeneas  narrates 
his  adventures  to  Dido,  and  the  Carthaginian  queen  has  no 
difficulty  in  understanding  the  Trojan.  In  Italy  Aeneas  deals 
with  the  Italians  as  though  they  were  akin  to  him  in  language. 
But  Vergil  has  a  story  which  he  wishes  to  tell,  and  to  him  the 
important  thing  is  to  narrate  it  without  stopping  to  explain 
things  which  are  of  minor  importance  as  compared  with  the 
spirit  of  the  whole.  His  ideal  was  to  write  a  Roman  epic,  and 
not  a  book  on  linguistic  differences  and  Italic  dialects. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CONCLUSION 

From  the  survey  presented  in  the  preceding  chapters,  it 
appears  that  interpreters  were  used  extensively  in  antiquity 
in  diplomatic,  administrative,  commercial,  and  private  affairs. 
In  fact,  they  were  frequently  used  when  they  were  unnecessary, 
as  in  the  cases  where  national  pride  forbade  a  man  to  speak  any 
language  but  his  own.  However,  it  is  the  most  satisfactory 
thing  for  a  man  to  talk  directly  with  the  person  of  foreign  speech, 
as  was  so  strikingly  expressed  by  Themistocles,  who,  with  his 
Oriental  imagery,  likened  a  man's  discourse  to  a  piece  of  tapes- 
try. 

Even  if  interpreters  are  indispensable,  they  are  not  always 
practical  instruments.  We  have  seen  that  they  could  not  be 
employed  when  the  patience  of  a  mutinous  army  would  be  ex- 
hausted by  hearing  the  same  speech  repeated  four  or  five  times 
in  different  tongues.  Furthermore,  a  resort  to  them  involves 
confidence  in  the  polyglot's  honesty  and  ability;  but  Hanno, 
the  Carthaginian,  could  not  always  depend  on  his  officers,  who 
sometimes  reported  his  speeches  in  a  contrary  sense,  either 
through  malice  or  through  their  failure  to  understand.  Still 
this  was  probably  an  exceptional  case,  and  on  the  whole,  we 
may  assume  that  interpreters  rendered  the  languages  as  faith- 
fully and  as  honestly  as  they  were  able. 

It  may  seem  that  the  references  to  interpreters  are  few, 
considering  the  prevalence  of  the  institution  and  the  long  period 
represented  by  the  two  literatures.  But  in  the  historian's 
mind,  the  important  things  are  the  facts,  the  causes  and  the 
results  of  movements,  and  the  ideas  expressed  by  men  in  their 
speeches.  To  him  the  languages  used  appeared  of  minor  im- 
portance, and  he  probably  did  not  think  of  the  attendant  dif- 
ficulties when  he  was  absorbed  in  the  main  purpose  of  his  work. 

63 


64   The  Interpreters  of  Foreign  Languages  Among  the  Ancients 

Only  occasionally  did  he  become  aware  of  the  difficulties  of 
communication  in  cases  where  the  use  of  the  interpreter  is 
too  prominent  to  be  overlooked.  So  we  should  not  be  sur- 
prised that  the  authors  have  not  referred  to  linguists  more 
frequently ;  affairs  of  everyday  knowledge  are  those  least  often 
mentioned  in  books. 


INDEX  OF  QUOTATIONS  FROM  ANCIENT  AUTHORS 


Aeschylus  Again.  1045, 14 

Agam.    1046-7, 12 

Ammianus  Marcellinus  XIX,  n, 

5, 59 

Appian  De  Bella  Mith.  50, 12 

III  De  Rebus  Samniticis 

7, 47 

Aristophanes     Acharnians      100 

sqq., 35 

Arrian  Anab.  IV,  3 42;  43 

VII,  1 34 

Cassius  Dio,  Zonaras  VIII,  24,  8, 

in  Boissevain,   Vol.  I,  p.  207,  50 

XL,  41 13 

LI,  16, 58 

LVII,  15 54;  55 

LX,  8 55 

LXXVIII,  6, 53 

Caesar  B.  G.  I,  19,  3 51 

I,  22,  61 

I,  44.  12,  51 

I,  47.  4.  5i 

IV,  20,  4 52 

V,  36,  1 51 

VII,  44 61 

Cicero  Ad  fam.  XIII,  54 21 

Ad  AtL  I,  12,  2 21 

XVI,  ii,  7,  ....  21 

Balb.  n,  28 47 

De  div.  II,  64,  131, 54 

Defin.  V,  29,  89, 54 

Tusc.  V,  40,   116, 9 

Vatin.  15,  35.  21 

Verr.  II,  n,  22,  54, 56 

II,  in,  37,  84 56 

II,  iv,  22,  49,  ....  56 

II,  iv,  26,  58 56 

Claudian  Epig.  I,   19-20, 52 


Curtius  III,  12,  6 41 

V,  ii,  I  sqq., 40 

V,  13,  7 20 

VI,  5.  19 41 

VI,  9,  34  sqq 55 

VI,  ii,  4, 21 

VII,  10,  4  sqq 42 

VIII,  12,  9 34 

X,  3,  5-6 41 

Digest  XXXII,  ii, 52 

XLIX,  15,  5,  3 57 

Diodorus  Siculus  XI,  57,  35 

XVII,  76 41 

Gellius  VI,  14,  8  sq 54 

XVII,   17 16;  18 

Herodotus  I,  86,  23 

II,  125 30;  61 

II,  154. 19 

II,  164 19 

III,  19 24 

III,  38 33 

III,  139-140 35 

IV,  24 21 

IV,  78 17 

IV,  87 36 

IV,  in 14 

IV,  113 14 

IV,  196,  14 

Josephus  Antiq.  lud.  I,  4,  3.  •  ••  9 
XVIII,  6, 

7 59 

XX,  1 1  (9), 

2, 32 


65 


66 


Index  of  Quotations  from  Ancient  Authors 


Bell.  lud.  V,  9,  2 32 

VI,  2,  i,  . .  32 

VI,  2,  5,  ...  33 

VI,  6,  2,  . .  33 

Contra  Apionem  I,  9. .  32 

Justinus  XII,  13,    i,  61 

XX,  4,3, 61 

XX,  5,  11-13 30 

XXXVIII,   3,  6, 61 

Livy  I,  i, II 

I,  18 II 

X,  4, 49 

XXII,  13 50 

XXIII,  5,  ii 25 

XXVII,  43,  5 50 

XXX,  30 50 

XXX,  33 28 

XXX,    34 28 

XLV,  8,  6,   57 

XLV,  29, 58 

Lucan  Phars.  VIII,  348-9 13 

Lucian  De  Sal.  64,   14 

Nepos  Hann.   13,  2 31;  50 

Them.  10, 35 

New   Testament   i    Cor.     XIV, 

7-11,.  10 
Acts      II, 

i-n,  . .  10 

Old  Testament  Gen.  XI,  6-9,.  9 

XLII,  20  sqq., 23 

Ovid  Pont.  Ill,  2,  40 19 

IV,  13,  17  sqq 19 

IV,  14,  39  sqq 25 

Trist.  V,  10,  37  sqq 10 

V,  12,  58-59, 19 

Pliny  N.  H.  VI,  5,   5,  §15 22 

VI,  22,   24,    §84-5,  53 

VI,  22,  24,  §88,  ...  15 

VII,  i,  i,  §7 9 

VII,    24,    24,     §88,  16 

XXV,  2,  3,  §6, ....  16 


Plutarch  Moralia,  Regunt  et  im- 
peratorum  apophthegmata  185, 

Them.  15-16, 35 

Vitae 

Alex.  37 17 

47,  3 17 

Anton.  27,  16 

46.2 31 

48,  i 31 

Cato  Maior  12 47 

22 54 

Crassus  33, 48 

Fab.  Max.  6,  I, 50 

Sertorius  14,  2, 18 

Sulla  27,  2, 21 

Them.  6,  3, 35 

28,  i  sqq., 35 

29,  1-3, 35 

Polybius 

I,  67 24 

I,  69-70 25 

I,   80,  26;  27 

III,  44, 29 

V,   83 44 

XI,  19 25:28 

XV,  6, 50 

XV,    ii 28 

XV,  12 28 

XXIX,  20 57 

Pseudo-Aurelius  Victor  Vir,  ill. 

LXXVI,  i 16 

Quintilian  Inst.  XI,  3,  85-7, ...  13 

Sallust  lug.  18 ii 

109,  4 51 

Strabo  II,  3,  4,  C  98, 34 

XIII,  4,  12,  €629 56 

XV,   1,64,  0716 34 

Suetonius  Nero  13, 48 

Tib.  71 54155 

Tacitus  A nn.  II,  I o, 52 

II,  60, 30 

II,  62, 19 

Thucydides  I,  137-138, 35 

IV,  50 36 


Index  of  Quotations  from  Ancient  Authors 


67 


Valerius  Maximus  II,  2,  2 

II,  2,  3 

VIII,  7,  16,.. 

VIII,  7,  Ext. 
15 

IX,  5,    Ext. 
3 


Xenophon  Anab. 


,2,  17, 

,  4,  16, 

,  6,  4  sqq..  .. 

,  7,  2 

,  8,  I 

,8,  12 

II,  1,7  sqq.,.  . 

II,  3,  17, 

II,  5,  I  sqq.,.. 


56 
55 
16 

35 

21 

37 
37 
37 
37 
38 
37 
38 
38 
39 


II,  5,  35,  .  ..20:46 

IV,  2,  18, . .  . .  39 

IV,  4-  5 39 

IV,  5,  10 40 

IV,  5,  33-34--  40 

IV,  8,  4 18 

IV,  8,  4  sqq.,.  43 

V,  4,  4, 44 

VII,  2,  19,.  . .  44 

VII,  3,24-25,.  45 

VII,  6,  8 45 

VII,  6,  43,  ...  45 

Cyr.  I,  i,  4 20 

V,  4,  5i 24 

VII,  5,  31,  ...  24 

VIII,  3,  24-25,  24 
Mem.  IV,  4,  19,  ....  n 


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